Tekkadread
by Hung Nguyen
Summary: Take the main character from Ranma , add some elements from Tekkaman Blade, then mix thoroughly with the universe of Vandread and we get...
1. Prologue

Tekkadread

Disclaimer: Ranma Saotome, Vandread and Tekkaman Blade belong to their own respective creators/owners and are only being used in this fanfic for fun and not profit.

Introduction: Since my previous attempt at fusing Ranma and Teknoman seemed to have hit a dead end, I decided to try another approach. Recently, I had gotten hooked on an anime called Vandread and was inspired after seeing those CGI battles and cool mecha designs. I figured, why not? I also wanted to flesh it out a bit more and perhaps add some new twists. So here we have the revamped story of Ranma as something a bit more. This prologue shall be the only time in which the Nerima Wrecking Crew will be seen, so you can just forget about Ranma being paired with any of the Fiancee Brigade.

: Thoughts

**Prologue**

"What? The scout ship was destroyed?" The Radam Warlord remarked as his subordinate told him of the fate of one of his exploratory craft.

"Yes, my Lord." The subordinate replied as he gave the details. "It had encountered a fierce meteor shower when it entered the minor system near the outer fringes of the neighboring galaxy. The cargo of Tekkapods was mostly destroyed when the ship exploded, but we have reason to believe that a few of them did scatter toward the inner planets of that system. Initial scans indicated that the third planet of that planetary system does possess a race of sentient life forms that can be converted into Tekkamen. If even one of those pods manages to take root on that planet's surface, we may be able to subjugate that world that much sooner."

The Radam ruler was silent for a moment as he considered the possibilities. He then shrugged as he replied. "It makes no difference if a pod does land on that planet. The technology of that world, as I understand it, is primitive and would not be able to stand up to the might of the Radam. There is no hurry to conquer that region of the cosmos as we are still working on this sector. If a pod does take root and start transforming the beings into our servants, then it will be that much easier to take over that world when we eventually arrive. If not, then it will be a simple matter to seed that world with more of our Tekkapods and conquer that world then."

"Yes Master. Though being so far from our influence, any pod that does land on that planet, will have to fall back on its integrated programming and the process will be slow. It may take years, perhaps even decades for it to transform even one life form into a Tekkaman. Then again, replication of itself will take place immediately when it takes root and it will spread to cover that planet in just a few short years."

"As I said before, there is no hurry. After we secure this sector, we have more than a dozen regions to overrun afterwards before we can turn our attention toward that solar system. Ah, so many places to dominate and we have all the time in the Universe to do it. Although, it will be quite interesting to see what kind of Tekkaman a pod can create from those pitiful life forms on that planet. It is very unlikely that we will encounter anything that could stop us." 

----------

They were wrong.

Though the Radam war machine was a fearsome force to be reckoned with in the cosmos, it was not the only predator. There were many others that also preyed upon lesser beings. One race in particular, was not interested in conquest, but rather in survival, at any cost! Even if it meant the total annihilation of another race... including the Radam. As such, it was not concerned with casualties or gaining territory. Existence was the only thing on this race's mind. Existence and sustenance to continue that existence. To these aliens, the Radam only meant one thing to them... food.

Eventually, the two sides would meet in the infinite void of space. The ensuing battle between them would result in near-catastrophic losses on both sides, but in the end, the Radam had finally met their betters. After countless centuries of victories and destroyed civilizations, the Radam Empire fell under the feet of this more terrible enemy. It would take several more decades before the last of the Radam and their Tekkamen were wiped out. Then, slowly but surely, the aliens began to make their way toward the Milky Way. 

----------

On Earth, 1986...

"No please, Papa! Don't put me in that pit again!" Six-year-old Ranma screamed as he was pushed toward a deep pit.

"Ranma! Don't be such a whiner! Now get in there and learn the Cat Fist!" Genma shouted as he shoved his only child into the pit of starving cats and shut the lid. He was so focused on having his son learn the dreaded, yet ultimately flawed technique, that he ignored the flash of light that streaked high above him and plummeted toward the surface of the planet. Its landing point... somewhere in the midst of China. 

----------

The Radam device, the only one to have reached the planet Earth, easily withstood the heat of reentry as it blazed down toward the one place, (by sheer coincidence of course), in which Ranma would eventually arrive at ten years later... Jusenkyo.

The pod splashed down hard into a large pool, causing the rest of the cursed training grounds to tremble and quake from the impact. This startled the Guide out of his hut as he came out with a kettle, expecting to see some poor fool crawling out of a pool in his cursed form, but he only saw the center pool steaming and rippling after the splashdown. He neared the edge and tried to peer into the depths of the spring, but whatever had landed into it had been driven deep into the bottom and was obscured from sight. 

The Guide continued to stare down at the waters for a long while before finally deciding that whatever landed in that pool had probably drowned by now. That particular spring had been one of the few that had not been imprinted yet. Well, he would find out what had landed in that spring when another hapless victim would fall into it. He then turned around and headed back to his hut.

Deep within that spring, the organic alien mechanism was experiencing some unforeseen difficulties. It was able to take root into the muddy bottom of the spring and began drawing in nourishment, but something was stopping it from spreading beyond the confines of the pool. It could survive for centuries within that pool, but it could not produce any spores to infect the surrounding areas. Some strange energies within the waters was preventing any part of it from leaving the spring. All it could do was carry out its primary function, which was to transform a subject into a Tekkaman. Now, it could only wait. 

----------

Ten years later...

Ranma Saotome frowned as he voiced out his first impression of Jusenkyo. "Aw this place doesn't look so bad." He then absently stroked the thin scar that he had on the left side of his face. The memento from his Cat Fist training was a thin line that ran above his eye and down toward his chin. He had grown quite bitter after receiving a permanent reminder of his father's foolishness. That irrational fear of cats he had gained didn't help matters either. Since that time, he had been beating his father consistently, and was only following him now because he had no where else to go. He had lost a lot of respect for his parent since that time. Just recently, he had decided that he would abandon his father, once he had learned everything he had to teach. Of course, his dimwitted dad had no idea that his son felt this way and thought that everything was going according to his ultimate plan to unite the schools of the Anything Goes.

"Oh sirs, you are very strange ones, no?" The Guide said as he gestured to the pools. "This place is very dangerous. No one use now since there is over one hundred springs here and each one have own terrible tragedy happen."

"Ranma! Follow me!" Genma said as he leapt up to one of the poles that stuck out from the pools. Ranma followed suit, if only to beat on his father again. The Guide began frantically waving at the two as they began trading blows with each other.

By the time they passed each other in the air for the second time, Genma was a heartbeat too slow to block Ranma's kick and was sent splashing down into the Spring of Drowned Panda. However, as Ranma landed on another of the poles, it snapped under his weight as the bamboo was rotten. The boy was sent plummeting toward the large pool below and splashed down into it, just as Genma resurfaced as a panda.

Looks like I finally find out what pool that was. Thought the Guide as he and Genma waited for Ranma to surface.

However, Ranma would not be cursed to transform into something with cold water as that particular pool had never had anything or anyone drown in its waters. It did however had something else in it. Something that was not of this world and had been waiting patiently to fulfill its primary objective.

The alien plant came to life as it sensed a nearby life form coming near the bottom of the spring. It had been in that spring for over a decade and Ranma was the first sentient being that it had encountered since it landed on Earth. Now was its chance as the pseudo-organic device set forth two tentacle-like appendages to grab hold of its victim and drag him down toward its center. Ranma struggled hard to free himself from its grasp, but with the lack of breathable air available, the pod's power soon overwhelmed him. It took him down to be enveloped within the jelly-like center and Ranma found his consciousness slip away as his body was stripped of his clothes and made him curl up into a fetal position. His hair became unbound as the string that he had tied to make a ponytail was also stripped away.

Above the surface of the spring, Genma was beginning to sweat as he and the Guide waited for Ranma to come up. However, they would have a very long wait as the now former heir to the Anything Goes School of the Martial Arts had just been claimed for a greater destiny. 

----------

Deep in the pool, the young martial artist was immediately put into a state of near-suspended animation as the Tekkapod began analyzing its subject. The boy's bodily functions were slowed down to their barest rates, just hovering above a comatose level. The alien device found out that the subject possessed extremely high bioenergy potentials and great innate abilities. 

Ranma would make an excellent Tekkaman. However, with no other source of Radam power to draw from, it had to rely on its own reserves. Furthermore, the magical waters of Jusenkyo also hampered the pod's functions. The procedure to turn Ranma into a servant of its alien masters would be a long and gradual process, but the device had nowhere else to go and nothing else to do, so it simply proceeded in carrying out its primary function.

The first order of business was to evolve Ranma's body to accept the Tekkaman Power System. The malnutrition and lack of growth that the martial artist had suffered under Genma's care was corrected and he began to slowly gain in height and added muscle mass. All of his body's tissues became energized with power as lines of light ran over him like organic circuits. On his forehead, a green-white light appeared in the shape of a four-pointed star with the outer arms pointed down at an angle. The design looked like a geometric horseshoe crab. Off to one side, a crystalline shape that resembled the one on his forehead was also being formed separately.

The process of physical evolution was a speeded-up version of the one that occurred naturally over millions of years as Ranma's body was accelerated to a state of human perfection and then beyond that. 

----------

Genma Saotome, now realizing that he had lost his son, the future of the Anything Goes, and his meal ticket, did what any man did in his position, which was to panic. He spent all of five minutes searching for his son, but since he didn't dare jump into that cursed pool, nor look into its watery depths, he could only assume the worst that Ranma had perished. All he could think of was...

Boygonegonnadie!Boygonegonnadie! (1)

Genma didn't dare go home to his wife without their only child. He remembered that contract that he and his son had signed before they left home and Nodoka was not going to be pleased in the slightest if she were to learn that Ranma had drowned. He preferred to have his head remain in its present condition. He began to curse the heavens for giving him such a weak son, who couldn't even stand a little harmless training. Ranma just had to drown and spoil all of his plans for a long and luxurious retirement at the Tendo Dojo.

That's it! I'll go to Soun's! Once I tell him what happened, he's sure to help me! Genma then set off in another direction, leaving his presumably deceased son at Jusenkyo. He would first find something to fill his growling belly, then head to Japan. 

----------

Deep within his watery prison, Ranma's body continued to undergo changes as the pod began carrying out another of its functions, which was to wipe out the memories of the subject's previous life. One by one, each of the teen's images of his past life were brought up and then was slowly erased as the alien device continued to mold him into the ideal Radam warrior. Ironically, as Ranma's identity was being slowly deleted, the side-effects to the Neko Ken training were also destroyed as the memories and trauma of the technique were unraveled like old fabric. However, with the magic of Jusenkyo hampering the alien plant, the process was slowed down to less than a snail's pace. What normally took the Radam device a few days to accomplish, Ranma's transformation was being stretched out into years, then to decades, then to centuries as the pod's energy reserves were gradually being used up. The process proceeded at a maddeningly slow pace, and the alterations would not be complete for hundreds of years to come. A lot can happen during that time. As Ranma continued to slumber within the pod, the outside world continued on without him. Events that could have changed his life were irrevocably altered with his absence. 

----------

In the outside world, certain events took place as the years rolled on... 

----------

In an Amazon Village...

Shampoo wiped her forehead as she got off the Challenge Log after knocking her final opponent off it to win the Tribal Championships. The crowds cheered as she hopped off the timber and made her way toward the First Prize Feast. All around the purple-haired girl, friends were congratulating her, while her rivals were promising that they would beat her next time. To the great-granddaughter of Cologne, it mattered very little. She had trained hard to become the Tribal Champion and now she could...

The girl stopped in her tracks as she saw what was hunched over the prize table and was devouring the banquet. The other villagers also stared at the large, black and white mass of fur as it continued to gobble up the food that had been intended for the winner of the tournament. Suffice to say, the people weren't happy.

Genma stopped for a moment in his eating to look up. He wondered why everyone was giving him such hostile glares. After all, the food was laid out for anyone to take. No one had laid claim on it, so it was all free, right? And according to the Saotome School Of Martial Arts, one should take every opportunity to fill one's belly, for there may not be another chance to do so.

Unfortunately for Ranma's father, this would prove to be his final meal as the villagers closed in on him. 

----------

A few days later, Shampoo sighed as she stretched out on the floor of the living room and ran a hand through her new panda-skin rug. As she lay on her back, she continued to wonder just how she was going to get that irritating Mousse to stop pestering her.

If only she had strong husband... 

----------

In Japan...

Soun Tendo was still staring out from the patio. In his hand was a postcard that ironically had a photo of a panda on it. On the postcard were the words 'Arriving with Ranma in a few days- Genma' written on it.

"At last! Ranma is coming!" Soun said excitedly as he decided to call his daughters for a family meeting. _Won't they be pleased to know that I've assured their futures for them!_

However, neither he nor his daughters would ever see the Saotomes. Technically speaking, they no longer existed. Time would continue to pass and more events would occur. 

----------

A month later...

"Ah, my fair tigress! Your beloved husband-to-be has arrived to..."

_**WHAM!**_

Tatewaki Kuno was sent skyward after Akane belted him for the umpteenth time.

"Why can't he just leave me alone?" The short-tempered girl complained as she stomped into Furinken High with two of her friends.

"Well he is your fiance." Yuka said slowly.

"_THAT PERVERT IS NOT MY FIANCÉ!_" Akane shot back. "_JUST BECAUSE HE GOT LUCKY AND BEAT ME THAT ONE TIME..._"

At that moment, Nabiki walked up to her. "Technically speaking, he is your fiance. Remember, Daddy was the one who formalized the engagement when Kuno baby came in and offered all that money. And from what I remember from that fight, he wasn't lucky. He just finally figured out that he had to go all out to beat you."

"Shut up, Nabiki! This is all his fault! Him and that stupid speech of his!"

"Well, there is a way in which you can get out of this..." The middle daughter began.

This immediately got Akane's attention. "What? Tell me! I'll give you my allowance for a year!"

The second daughter of Soun Tendo thought for a moment, then shook her head. "No. That won't work. Forget it."

"TELL ME!"

"Well, remember back when Daddy told us about that pledge to unite the schools of the Anything Goes? Now since that promise was made before we were even born, then that should take precedence over Kuno's claim. Now if that Ranma Saotome were to show up, then you could tell Kuno that you're engaged to him."

Akane felt a glimmer of hope, though she blanched at the thought of openly admitting that she was engaged to some boy. However Nabiki then said, "But since he never showed up, I guess that flushes that idea down the toilet."

And along with that idea, Akane's hopes were also flushed. 

----------

Another month later...

"OH, HO, HO, HO, HO, HO, HO! My, my, my! How very disappointing! I had hoped that the Furinken Gymnastics Team would have at least one competitor this year, but it looks like St. Hebereke wins by default again."

At the Nerima Hospital, Akane lay in a body cast after Kodachi Kuno had visited her the night before. 

----------

"_WHERE ON EARTH AM I NOW????!!!_"

Guess who's still lost? 

----------

A few more months after that...

"Father! How could you?"

Kasumi felt betrayed as she was told that she had been chosen to be the bride of Picolet Chardin III. Apparently, Soun had neglected to tell his family of a certain promise he had made after losing an eating match. 

----------

More time has passed...

"HA HA HA HA HA! Your sign now belongs to me!"

Soun was flooding the floor of the dojo with his tears as the Dojo Destroyer towered over his broken opponent.

Akane had thought she could win against this behemoth. After all, she was the best martial artist in Nerima, wasn't she? The time that Kuno had beaten her had been a fluke, right? She had been breaking more bricks and training dummies since then. Surely that beating she had received from Kodachi had made her stronger to take on this bully. She would triumph over him and show to all that she was still the best.

All these thoughts and other delusions continued to run through her mind as her body throbbed with agonizing pain. She was unable to get up as her opponent walked over to the front of the training hall. She felt her heart breaking as she heard the sound of wood being torn free from its foundation. When she finally managed to raised her head up, she caught sight of the Dojo Destroyer as he left her home. Slung over his shoulder was his latest prize, the sign of the Tendo Dojo. 

----------

Still more time passes by...

The entire district of Nerima would suffer with the arrival of Soun and Genma's dread sensei, Happosai. With no one to keep the perverted master in check, the females and their undergarments were constantly harassed. Added to these problems were several acts of thievery and mayhem as the enemies of the lecher came one after another, resulting in massive property damage. As a consequence, many of the inhabitants of the district decided to save themselves and moved away. When Pantyhose Tarou showed up, things got even more hazardous. Nerima soon became a ghost town within Tokyo. 

----------

Another key moment...

Eventually, when Lychee and her Elephant showed up with their half of the sacred scroll, things turned from bad to worse. Akane accidentally got a hold of the piece of parchment at the exact moment that Prince Kirin showed up to claim his bride. Akane was taken away, never to be seen again as there was no one to rescue her. However, the marriage was to be short-lived as even a master fighter from the School of the Seven Lucky Gods Martial Arts proved to be no match for Akane's Pickled Souffle Surprise. As for the Tendo girl...well, let's just say that the inhabitants of Nekonron, China were not happy to see their ruler done in by his bride's cooking. 

----------

And so the Anything Goes ends...

Soun Tendo became even more emotional (if such a thing were possible), after the loss of two of his daughters and his dojo. With the realization that his lifelong dream would never be fulfilled, there was no reason to go on. Soon afterwards, Soun committed suicide. The schools of the Anything Goes died with him. No one wanted to learn the discipline as it was connected with the infamy of Happosai. 

----------

The aftermath...

Nabiki wiped her tears as the priest completed the ceremony and motioned for the pallbearers to lay her father's coffin in its final resting place. She could not believe that she was now alone. The last of her family was gone and there was just no need to stay in Nerima any longer. She then made her decision and a few weeks later, the family home was sold as the last of Tendo line departed for Osaka, hoping to bury her past and start anew.

As this was happening in Nerima, a young okonomiyaki chef continued on with his... her mission of vengeance and retribution against the former childhood friend that she thought had betrayed her. However, that all came to an end when she one day encountered the mother of that said friend and learned of his disappearance and was assumed dead with his no-good father. As a result, the honor to the Kuonji family had been satisfied and Ukyo was free to get on with her life as a girl. However, she never did forget her Ran-chan and her return to womanhood would take a turn that no one would ever expect. 

----------

All of this was of no consequence to the being that was still slumbering within the Radam pod, as his identity as Ranma Saotome was slowly being wiped from existence. Nodoka later remarried and went on to live a happy life with her new husband and family, still believing that her first child was dead. Perhaps it was best that way, for she would not recognize her son when he would finally emerge from the pool at Jusenkyo. That would not happen for a very, very long time. Eventually, each and every person who had known of Ranma Saotome was gone. Their bodies would be nothing more than dust by the time he would reappear.

Due to the nature of the Springs of Jusenkyo, the alien device was totally cut off from any outside sources of power and it would take centuries before it could finally complete the transformation process. With the Radam gone, whatever emerged from that pod would be one of a kind. 

---------

The planet Earth would go through many changes during this period. More wars would be fought as the people of the planet continued to fight among themselves. The landscape became devastated as mankind teetered on the brink of extinction, due to global civil war. Then... it happened.

The unstoppable force that had decimated even the mighty Radam had finally arrived. Whatever squabbles the humans had for one another was quickly cast aside in order to counter this new threat. However, due to the lack of resources from their own wars and conflicts, the people of Earth found themselves ill-prepared for the invaders. Soon, with their population at barely one hundredth of its original number of six billion, the humans were only left with two options... abandon their home planet, or keep on fighting.

Before the invaders began their final onslaught, a fleet of hastily-built colony ships were launched. Each ship had been designed to explore and terra-form whatever planets they came across. Several hundred people did stay behind to fight the alien menace, using a new kind of crystalline-fusion power source called Paksis, which the humans had stolen from the enemy. They waged a valiant battle until finally, they managed to overcome their oppressors. However, the cost was enormous and the remainder of humanity and the Earth were changed forever. What now inhabited the planet couldn't even be called... human.

By this time, the rest of Earth's survivors were long gone to the stars and it would be decades before they would hear from their long-lost cousins. However, even out in the void of space, the humans would still fight among themselves.

One ship in particular, the Ikazuchi, would soon become the focal point of a new conflict. Due to some arguments between the men and women of the crew, a fight broke out and the ship was split into two segments. One segment, which carried only men, eight in all, crash-landed on a barren and desolate world. They had very little in technology, and would have to fall back on their more baser instincts to survive.

The other segment, which housed only females landed on a more hospitable planet, with nearly all their technology intact. These people would go on to build a new world in which only their gender would reign supreme. Who needed men?

More years would pass, and the two sides would evolve civilizations and their own separate cultures. With the absence of the opposite gender, each side had to procreate by way of cloning methods. Furthermore, with the lack of women on the male planet of Tarak, and no men on the female planet of Mejale, plus the hatred that both sides bred into their successors, it wasn't long before the people of both planets believed the opposite sex to be an alien species, despite the fact that they all originated from Earth. By the time of the third generations, the two worlds became locked in war once again. 

----------

Back on Earth, five hundred years after that fateful plunge...

Though nearly all the pools of Jusenkyo were now either inactive or evaporated from war and the alien invasion, one pool remained intact. Now, with the magic of the waters finally fading away, the Radam machine began making up for lost time, and speeded up the process to convert the subject within into one of the mightiest warriors in the cosmos. Then, one day, it finally surfaced and broke open, releasing the person from his slumber. The pod exploded, scattering icky pus and fluids from within as a figure emerged naked from its depths. After using the last of its energy reserves to complete the process, the pod dissolved into a putrid, gooey mass, unable to reproduce itself to spread over the Earth. Not that it mattered since the planet was more or less unsuitable for most plants to be sustained.

The being stood up and surveyed the area as he waded toward the edge of the pool. He was a tall figure, standing about two inches above six feet. His raven hair wafted gently in the evening breeze as he set foot on the dry ground. His build was lean but finely muscled, hinting at power and grace. His blue eyes scanned the landscape and noted the increased humidity as he glowed with a soft, green-white light. Occasionally, lines of red light would flash across his body, displaying the Tekkaman circuits that ran through his body, infusing every cell with quantum energy, and was also boosting his potential to generate ki to its highest levels.

The young man raised a hand toward a large boulder that was nearby simply focused his inner energies. His hand glowed and the lines within were briefly visible as a huge blast of ki with minute amounts of quantum energy exploded from his palm to reduce the solid granite rock into powder. The man looked down at his palm and contemplated it for a moment. What would have taken a trained martial artist a lifetime to accomplish, took him only seconds. The person who was once Ranma Saotome would have taken some time to develop his own ki projectile, even with his formerly amazing ability to learn techniques quickly. The Radam pod had in a way, put Ranma through the equivalent of a hundred lifetimes of martial arts training with its biological alterations and enhancements of his body. His strength, reflexes, recuperative powers and all his other physical attributes had been enhanced to inhuman levels. He was what the Nazis of World War II had strived to create... the superior human.

Despite having slumbered in the pod for more than five centuries, Ranma looked to be around seventeen years old, and his face had become more angular and defined. The Radam device had slowed down the aging process in order to make the necessary changes to his biostructure. The only detail that the pod left from his original body was the thin scar on his face that he had received when he was six during the Cat Fist training. That mark did not detract from his appearance, but made him more rugged-looking. The pod thought that the mark was of no consequence and did nothing to change it. However, its mission to totally convert Ranma into a servant of the Radam was never realized. With nothing left of that alien race, the individual had his own free will and was permanently in control of the power that the pod had given to him.

Due to the interfering magical energies of Jusenkyo and the intense spiritual training Ranma had undergone, the pod had been unable to wipe out every memory of his former self. Ranma could not remember the details of his former life or even his own name, but he did still remember the rules of being a martial artist, which included defending the weak and innocent. As a result, the former heir to the Anything Goes had no desire to subjugate anyone, though he had more than enough power to do so. He was confused and alone. All the people that knew of him were gone. There were no Radam masters to serve, therefore, he was on his own.

In his mind, he kept on hearing a name that was not his, yet sounded so right to him.

Slade... Slade... Slade... Is that who I am?

He looked back down to his hand and began focusing on it. A bright flash of light appeared and something materialized in his palm. It was about the size of a baseball and glittered in the moonlight. Ranma's... Slade's Emerald Tekkaman Crystal glowed with power as the young man considered it for a moment. In his mind, he began receiving silent instructions in his mind that had been left by the pod. This was supposed to be the key to his transformation process. When not in use, it was kept in a subspace pocket.

Transformation...? What does it mean? Slade wondered as he held the crystal aloft to gaze at it. His eyes then narrowed as he clutched the object in his hand and shouted out one phrase.

"TEKSETTER!"

Instantly, the crystal flashed and pulsated with energy as Slade was engulfed by that light. He had called upon the universal forces of time and space which began his incredible metamorphosis. A tiny glowing symbol that resembled his crystal appeared on his forehead. The Tekkaman circuit lines ran over his body and glowed as sections of alien metal appeared and attached themselves to his flesh. His body became endowed with impenetrable armor (by human standards), and was given quantum energy weapons. His already superhuman abilities were further increased as the process continued. In less than a few seconds, the one who was formally Ranma Saotome had disappeared. Only Tekkaman Slade remained.

The Tekkaman now stood at a height of over seven feet and looked like some kind of space-age knight. His shoulders had huge armored epaulets and his helmet looked like an insect's head. Though he was massive, his body retained its graceful, sleek lines and he looked like was built more for speed rather than brute power. On his back, a couple of narrow nacelles opened up and low-density plasma engines fired up. Soon the Tekkaman was airborne and streaking off into the heavens at several times the speed of sound.

Slade decided to do a quick survey of the planet, and saw that it was not a very hospitable place. Nearly all of the surface was flooded by heavy rainstorms with only a few small landmasses, including the place where Jusenkyo once stood. A huge metal framework of gears, cams and levers surrounded the planet, with one large bulge on the northern hemisphere. That particular area was where the Earth's moon had been engulfed. The interior of the frame housed a few sprawling cities, but Slade had no interest in visiting them. With constant rainstorms occurring between the frame and the planet's surface, the Earth was like one huge washing machine. It was a very dismal existence indeed.

After deciding that the Earth was no longer fit for human or any other life form, the Tekkaman then made a beeline for the stars, in search of his destiny in the cosmos. 

----------

Several months later, in a factory on Tarak...

Slade sighed as he sat down at the table and gazed at his lunch. Food on Tarak consisted of nutrition pellets which tasted awful, though they did provide three hundred hours of energy for labor. With Slade's hyper-metabolic rate as a Tekkaman, he couldn't really complain. This was all there was to eat on Tarak.

For the past few months, he had been soaring the space ways, stopping periodically on any planet to rest and replenish his stores of energy. He had taken various shortcuts through space warps and such, to traverse great distances. With no Radam influences, the Earth Tekkaman could stay in his transformed state for as long as he wished, without losing control, though his powers did use up tremendous energy. He had seen many things during his interstellar travels and had encountered hundreds of different alien races. He had endured many battles and was well-versed in the ways of combat, both in his human form and his transformed state.

The Tekkaman had arrived on Tarak some time ago and had set himself up as a third-class worker. He had no intention of spending the rest of his life on this world as a menial laborer. He had only taken this job in order to stock up on energy and rest. Soon, he would move on.

As of now, he had been taking part in assembling the planet's newest weapons, the Van-Type Bangattas, or Vanguards as they were called. These machines were large, humanoid mecha that were twenty-five to thirty feet in height and sported a variety of close-quarters melee weapons. They were primitive in comparison to his Tekkaman armor, but the work was steady, and provided him with three meals a day and a roof over his head.

He had also learned much about the culture of this world and was somewhat disgusted by it. The men were totally ignorant of their so-called sworn enemies, women. They pictured woman as hideous monsters that devoured the innards of their victims and sucked the life out of men. Every person that Slade had met described females as ugly, terrible beasts that should be destroyed as soon as they were seen. Never mind the fact that they had never seen a woman before. It was all just rumors and propaganda generated by the government.

However, Slade knew what they were. They came from the same place he came from after all. So did the men of Tarak. He still remembered what a female was. The lessons he had learned as Ranma Saotome were still with him, though his memories of his past life were all but shadows in his mind. He knew about the 'birds and the bees' from his travels, though he mentioned none of this to the other men. It wasn't his place, and he'd probably scare the living daylights out of them if he did.

The men of Tarak were arrogant and extremely prideful. They disregarded many important factors as they continued to wage war against their relatively unknown enemy. For one thing, the women had superior technology and tactics, while the men were just barely making it in space travel. The female space pirates had decimated the Tarak Space Fleet and were raiding transport ships at will. The men were focusing all their resources on war, instead of concentrating on improving their planet and their lifestyles. Technology that could have benefited medical, agricultural and scientific research was instead being used to wage senseless battle against an enemy that they were trained to hate since birth. And with every battle, the men lose a little more of what few resources they possessed. Though they still persisted because of that overwhelming pride. Sometimes, he wondered if he had ever been like that before being transformed.

Though Slade did understand their need to overcome the ones who attacked them, he also understood that they were fighting a losing battle. However, it was not his place nor his world to interfere. Once he got enough food and rest, he would depart and leave this system. There were other worlds out there for him to explore, and new challenges that awaited him. Though as a martial artist and fighter, he did have that instinct for combat, and at times wanted to pit his mettle against the women. However, he knew that it would be no contest. The women had impressive technology, but that didn't compare to the power of a Tekkaman. He didn't like beating up on the weak.

Just then, his cast his attention over to a vid-screen where the High Prime Minister of Tarak was giving his speech. Apparently, in addition to the Van-types, another huge project was nearing completion. It had been the colony ship that had brought the men to this world in the first place. However, the Ikazuchi had been rebuilt as a battle cruiser and would soon be launched to be the flagship of the new Space Fleet in just a few hours.

At that point, Slade made a decision. Why wait any longer? And why waste any of his own power, when he could just hitch a ride aboard that ship? Without finishing his meal, he got up and left the cafeteria of the factory, heading toward the small domicile that he was currently residing in. Thirty minutes later, after collecting what few belongings he had into a travel bag and slinging it over his shoulder, he began to make his way toward the military base. Thanks to the martial arts and thieving skills he had learned from his previous life under Genma Saotome, he easily made it past the guards and security and was soon inside the great battleship as it stood ready on the launching pad. 

----------

After an hour of wandering through the bowels of the huge craft, he finally found a place where he could sleep until the ship was deep in space. From there he could fly out an airlock and be on his way.

The place appeared to be a large storage room, which was filled with rows and rows of the new mecha that the men had built. Though they were primitive, Slade felt a bit of a kinship with them. They were weapons of war, just as he was created to be an instrument of war. Setting his bag off to one side, he sat down and leaned against the leg of one of the huge machines. Folding his arms over his chest he soon drifted off to sleep. 

----------

As the Ikazuchi was being prepped for launch, other individuals were hard at work. Out near the orbit of Mejale, a group of space pirates were preparing for the biggest score of their careers. Their target... the Ikazuchi.

Now the stage was set with one factor that pirates had not counted on. The last Tekkaman in the universe was snoozing aboard their intended prey.

End of Prologue

Author's notes

Well, that's it for the prologue. I know that it was long but I had to fill out some gaps and such. As one may have guessed, there is no Hibiki Tokai and Ranma as Slade, will be making quite an impact as this new series commences.

For those of you who are wondering, yes Ranma is acting OOC, but he has been transformed and only a few of his traits will emerge from time to time, making some interesting character interactions. Also keep in mind that without Genma's influence or Akane, Ranma will be quite different from the one we all know.

As for what had happened to the Nerima Wrecking Crew, well... no Ranma. That meant that things that would have happened never did and disasters that could have been prevented were not. End of discussion.

After watching the entire Vandread Series and also Tekkaman Blade and Tekkaman Blade II, I decided to make a few changes, such as the title. I'll be using the Tekkaman Blade references, except for the name Slade, (which I like better than D-Boy, though you may expect that name to pop up). As for the storyline, this fanfic will mostly follow the Vandread series, with a few key changes. I won't be retelling Vandread word for word, and there will be a few surprises that many of my readers won't be expecting. That's what fanfics are all about, right?

(1) I couldn't resist this quip after reading Shade's Private Bet #10


	2. Chapter 1: Boys Versus Girls

Tekkadread

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2, Tekkaman Blade and Vandread all belong to their respective creators so it's no fault of mine.

: Thoughts

**Chapter One**

Boys Versus Girls

On the distant, all-male planet of Tarak, the Prime Minister and Supreme Commander of the Tarak Space Force was finishing up his speech before the graduating team of cadets. Behind him loomed the former colony ship, now battle cruiser and flagship, the Ikazuchi.

"And so my fellow warriors, we shall go forth and crush the enemy of our beloved empire! The empire that our forefathers, including our great Grand Pa had brought forth those many years ago. We shall annihilate the accursed monsters known as _WOMEN!_ With the combined strengths of the second and third generations, we shall triumph over our greatest enemies! We shall prove to all the great manliness that is our heritage! With our new weapons and the return of the mighty Ikazuchi, we can not... no! _WE SHALL NOT FAIL!_"

There was a roaring ovation as the raw new recruits cheered on their leader. Near the front of the crowds was a long-haired individual with a calm, collective demeanor. His face betrayed no emotion as he and the rest of the cadets continued to listen to the Prime Minister.

"We shall at last reclaim our place in the stars, by first wiping out the scourge of pirates that have been harassing our transports! Why wait until the designated time? Let us go forth now!"

The crowds gave off another round of applause and cheering. 

----------

The engineering section of the Ikazuchi...

"What?! He's starting two hours early?!" A technician gasped.

"All crews! To your stations!" The head engineer ordered.

The engineering crews of the battleship scrambled like mad to prepare for takeoff. The engine room was like a beehive as men buzzed about to fulfill their duties. Huge mechanisms whined and creaked as the massive craft began powering up. The barracks started filling up as the cadets quickly boarded the Ikazuchi. In less than fifteen minutes, the ship was ready to leave the planet as the Prime Minister and his command staff came onto the main bridge.

Then the massive thrusters that would propel the ship to the stars fired up. The entire flagship thrummed with power as it readied to leave the planet's surface. Outside, the crowds watched in anticipation as the crowning achievement of 'manhood' was about to take their war with women to the stars.

Then the massive engines novaed in a huge blast light, lifting the ship off the ground and caused it to slowly gain altitude.

On the ground, near the launch site, an old man wiped his sweaty brow as he looked up from the fields he was working. As he watched the massive craft rise towards the heavens, he began to have a certain feeling that the Ikazuchi was about to be cast into a role that would determine the destinies of both his world, and that of Mejele. A moment later, he went back to working the dry and almost desolate soil of Tarak. 

----------

Deep within the belly of the Ikazuchi, a lone space warrior was awoken from his slumber against the leg of a Vanguard. The vibrations of the ship had roused him and he casually looked about. The large room was still dark, save for a few indicator lights and such, and there was not a single soul as far as Slade could see. He then looked to an observation porthole and saw that the ship was rising.

Hmmm? We're going already? Ah, it's just as well. I wanted to get back into space anyway. (Yawn) I'll just sleep for a little longer, then be on my way.

With that in mind, the Teknoman returned to sleep. 

----------

Several hours later, in orbit around Tarak...

The liftoff had proceeded without a hitch and the mighty battleship was soon in synchronous orbit around the men's home world, awaiting for its escort fleet to join with them. On board the craft in the main hall, the cadets of the Tarak Space Force were busy enjoying the inauguration ceremonies as they drank and conversed with each other.

"I can't wait to get into battle!"

"Those new Vanguards will put those women in their places!"

"Say, after all this is over, do you want to make a kid?"

"A kid with you? That's not a bad idea."

As the celebration continued, a cadet by the name of Duero Mcfile stood with two other cadets.

"Hey, Duero. I hear that you made the top of your class."

The long-haired man simply nodded as he took another sip of his wine.

"Yeah, you'll probably be assigned to headquarters." Another cadet remarked.

"I hear that he left the position line of his submissions entry form completely blank." A third cadet said.

Just then, another cadet walked in on them, holding a box of pink and white colored pellets.

"Hey guys! Is everyone having a good time?"

The group looked at the newcomer, who looked totally out of place on a military ship. He was a skinny individual with a shock of blond hair. His voice was whiney and he seemed to be full of himself as he offered the men some of his nutrition pills.

"Here! These pellets are made of far superior ingredients than the other companies! But as a favor, I'm letting you all have a free sample!"

The cadets gave the newcomer a nervous look as they gave him their reply.

"Thanks, but no thanks."

"Yeah, I'm full already."

"Thanks for the offer,"

Bart gave a hurt look, then shrugged. "Gee, that's too bad. You might not get another chance to eat this good again." He then turned his attention to some other cadets and tried to sell them on the new pellet.

"Who is that guy?" One cadet asked.

"His father owns Garsus Foods. Let's just say that his family is keeping us all fed and leave it at that."

"Geez, I'm getting heartburn just thinking about it."

Just then, the lights went down as an announcer began addressing the assembled personnel. The crowds directed their attention to a movie screen which began showing images of the military's latest weapon, the Van-Type Fighter. The announcer then began giving a brief documentary on the mecha.

"Stab! Pierce! And Slay! With these various accessories, the Tsukumo Van-type fighter is a weapon unto itself! It is the frontline weapon of our military! Be it the sea, the air, the mountains, the plains! There is no terrain that our great weapon cannot traverse! The new Vanguards are the new beacons of hope for our people! Let's give a big hand for our latest weapons!"

There was a standing ovation as the cadets cheered for their latest tools against the women. Then the lights turned back on and a section of floor near the podium opened up. A large elevator platform rose up with more than two dozen of the completed Vanguards on it.

The applause and cheering stopped as the men saw... him. 

----------

Slade was roused again from his slumber as the floor of the storage room began to move. His eyes blinked open when a hatch above him opened and light flooded into the area. He then felt the entire floor begin to rise, carrying him and the Vanguards upward. He quickly got to his feet and slung his travel bag over his shoulder. When the platform reached the top, he suddenly found himself staring back at a large crowd of military cadets.

This wasn't good. 

----------

"Who is that?"

"Look at him! It's a third-class citizen."

"What's he doing on board?"

In the crowds, Duero Mcfile assessed the stranger. He noted that the intruder wasn't at all like any third-class citizen he had ever seen. Slade was in excellent physical condition, with a lean, but finely muscled form. His clothes were well-kept, unlike the shabby garb that third-class citizens usually wore. He wore white pants, red boots and a crimson jacket with black trim. His raven hair was in a kind of shaggy style with a small ponytail. He had the most intriguing blue eyes that he had ever seen. The scar on his face also added to his appearance, making him seem more rugged. Around his neck was an ID tag that clearly denoted his rank, but the young doctor couldn't believe that he was a third-class. There was just something about him...

Just then, the ships security guards began approaching the stranger to arrest him. However, the stranger was not going to go quietly as he dropped his bag and got into a defensive stance. Then the guards attacked with stun batons, hoping to overwhelm the intruder by sheer numbers. That was when the men of Tarak got their first glimpse of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts.

Slade instantly went into action as his body automatically went into defense mode. Swerving left to avoid a blow to his flank, he pivoted on one foot and tagged a guard in the head with a spin kick. Ducking under another swing to his temple, he came back up and let loose with a series of fast jabs, laying low two more opponents. When three more guards charged at him, Slade made a stunning reverse spin kick, toppling the trio like dominos. Grabbing the arm of another guard, he swung him around to knock him into two more of his own comrades. In less than five seconds, he had already incapacitated nine military men. Though his memories of his former life of Ranma Saotome was all but gone, the psychomotor reflexes and hand-to-hand combat skills of his ten-year training journey still remained, which were being boosted with the hidden power of a Tekkaman.

Just as Slade leapt back to get more fighting room, he suddenly heard the distinctive click of weapons being aimed at him. He looked behind him and saw that ten of the guards had brought out their rifles and leveled them at him. He looked out in front of him and saw five more do the same. He began considering his options. Now he could try fighting them as he currently was, or call forth his crystal and transform.

After a long, tension-filled minute, he decided on option three. He raised his hands in a non-threatening gesture and surrendered without a word. It wasn't that he was afraid of the guards or had any doubts if he could defeat them while unarmed. It was that he didn't want people to know exactly what he was capable of.

"Comarade." He said simply.

Slade was quickly surrounded on all sides and his hands were bound in a set of wrist restraints. He was quickly ushered off toward the detention areas to be held until the upper brass decided on his fate, which was likely to be execution. Through it all, the former Earthling showed no fear or concern.

This lack of fear intrigued Duero as he watched the intruder get taken away. Normally, third-class citizens were low in self-esteem and were afraid of their masters. However, this one carried himself with an unspoken confidence and seemed sure that he could handle anything. After seeing that display of physical prowess, the young doctor wondered how a third-class citizen could be so well-trained in unarmed combat. If it wasn't for his ID Tag, the medic would have mistaken him for one of the elite. 

----------

"Keep an eye on him Cell Unit 6." The guard ordered as a squat, oval-shaped mechanoid hovered near the laser bars of Slade's cell. The brig was in actuality, a storage room. The men of Tarak had not been planning on taking any prisoners in their war with the women.

"Beep! Beep! Roger!" The robot replied as it took up its position in front of the cell.

As the guards left, Slade looked about the area. It was relatively cluttered with boxes, crates, spare parts and so on. He sat on the floor in a cross-legged position with his hands out in front, still bound by the wrist restraints. If he wanted, he could easily snap the bonds like paper, but had decided to bide his time. His gaze then fell on his 'guard.'

The machine was about the size of a small dog, and had a large projection screen cut into its top half, with a small console out in front. The robot floated by means of an antigravity field and remained glued to its post.

Slade growled slightly but kept his peace. Naturally, he wasn't going to stick around long enough to be executed. He figured that one quick blast of ki and quantum energy would be enough to get out of his cell. And if he aimed right, he could destroy that robot guard in the process. However, he didn't feel like obliterating the thing as it was simply fulfilling its programming. He'd just wait for the most opportune moment to make his escape. Until then...

"So... come here often?" Slade asked nonchalantly.

"Beep! Beep! That does not compute." 

----------

On the main bridge...

"Cancel the exhibition match." The Prime Minister said as he sat down in the captain's chair. "That third-class trash ruined the ceremony."

"Yes sir!" An aide saluted. On the main viewscreen, several other ships of the Tarak Space Fleet was moving into position with the Ikazuchi. It wouldn't long before the fleet would be in position to launch its first strike against its most hated nemesis.

It was then that several small, but bright dots of light came streaking out of the void of space. 

----------

_**WHABOOM!**_

The floor of Slade's cell shook as a massive explosion rocked the section of the ship he was in. This caused the robot guard to temporarily lose its balance. It suddenly pitched forward and slammed into the energy grid of Slade's cell, causing it to short-circuit itself and the grid. The energy bars weakened in intensity, but remained in place.

Slade went to a porthole and saw bright flares of laser and cannon fire light up the star-studded background. He shrugged. It wasn't exactly what he had in mind, but a surprise attack by the women would be the perfect diversion to make his escape. Though a part of him wanted to get involved in the battle, he silently reminded himself that this wasn't his fight and he shouldn't interfere. Raising his cuffed hands, he simply pulled them apart, and the restraints snapped like thread.

Raising one hand toward the energy grid, he focused his ki through the Tekno-organic circuits that ran through his body. The circuits on his arms briefly became visible as he let loose with a minute burst of ki and quantum energy. The front of the cell was totally blown apart as the energy bars were overwhelmed and the projectors on the sides of the doorway were fried.

Slade calmly exited his cell, pausing to pick up his travel bag which the guards had left near one corner of the storage room. Just as he was about to leave, he turned back toward the fallen robot and contemplated it.

"B-Bleep... beep... bip..."

Though it was only a machine, Slade couldn't help but feel sorry for it and decided to take it along. Perhaps he could get it running again, with some minor reprogramming of course. During the time he worked in the factory, he had learned quite a bit about electronics and mechanical repair. 

----------

On the main bridge...

"What's going on?! I thought I ordered the exhibition to be canceled!"

A lieutenant replied from his station. "Sir, it's not an exhibition! It's the women! They've launched a surprise attack!"

"What?!" 

----------

In the vacuum of space, the sleek Dread fighters of the female pirates were running rings around their technologically inferior adversaries. The slow-moving turrets of the male warships could not traverse fast enough to draw a bead on their nimble targets. Each Dread fighter easily evaded the enemy barrage and some of the male ships were hit by friendly fire.

However, the most damage being dished out was from the Dread pilots as they strafed the escort ships and made their way toward the flagship. One after another, the smaller vessels were either destroyed or incapacitated, leaving the Ikazuchi to defend itself.

Some distance away, the main pirate vessel stood by and observed the battle. Though everyone on board was ready to intervene, it seemed that the Dread fighters had everything under control. On the main bridge, an extremely old woman in robes smiled as she and her second witnessed the one-sided fight.

"It seems that we've come across a big one." The second remarked.

The captain nodded. "Yes, it seems that today is our lucky day." 

----------

On the bridge of the Ikazuchi...

The Prime Minister gritted his teeth as he was informed that two more of the escorts ships had been destroyed.

"What deplorable tactics! They're hiding in the background fire!"

His first officer saluted him. "What are we going to do, sir?"

"Launch the Vanguards!" The Ikazuchi's commander barked.

"But... most of them are just trainees!"

The Prime Minster snarled. "If we lose this fight because we didn't use our new weapons, then we shall bring shame upon our forefather Grand Pa!" 

----------

The scramble order was given, causing every available cadet to hurry toward the launch areas. Some of them boarded the Vangaurds that had been set up in the main hall. A speaker then came to life.

"Switching to sub-zero gravity to deploy the Vanguards!"

In an instant, tables, chairs and other items began floating off the floor. Under one such table, a certain heir to Garsus Foods also became airborne. 

----------

"Sir! Some of the launching mechanisms are offline!"

"I don't care!" The Prime Minister replied. "Launch all available Vanguards!" 

----------

Emerging from certain areas of the Ikazuchi, several of the humanoid battle machines managed to make it into space. However, with just raw recruits for pilots, the highly vaunted Vanguards were nothing more than animated debris to the Dreads. Some managed to latch onto the fighters as they passed by, but they could do very little to stop the onslaught. 

----------

"Eek! What are these things?! They're getting in my way!" A Dread Pilot screamed as two of the Vanguards pounded on her canopy.

The Dread Leader kept her calm as she replied, "Don't worry about the Vanguards. Just concentrate on the enemy flagship."

"Roger!"

A trio of Dreads followed their leader as they made a strafing run at the Ikazuchi. A section of the outer hull exploded and the fighters zoomed into the new opening. 

----------

"Hull breach in sector five!" A petty officer declared as the emergency walls closed to prevent precious air from escaping into space.

The fighters barreled through the ship's corridors and landed in the main cargo bay. The canopies opened up and the pilots disembarked to secure the area. They were dressed in formless suits and their helmets were like monstrous facemasks, designed to put fear in the hearts of their enemies. 

----------

Bart tumbled out from his hiding place, which incidentally was the base of the statue of Grand Pa. He cried out in terror as he got his first look at his race's mortal enemies.

"_THOSE THINGS ARE WOMEN?!_"

Just then, another ship came through the hull breach at breakneck speed. However, this craft seemed to be less skillfully piloted than the others.

"_AAAAAAHHHHH! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!_" Bart then scrambled back into the statue. The ship flashed by him, knocking off the head of the statue. The cowardly cadet poked his head up through the top hole. 

----------

Inside the main reactor room of the ship, Slade was crossing a walkway with his travel bag over his left shoulder and the robot under the arm. He looked over the side and saw that the Paksis crystal power source was humming with power.

Slade suddenly stopped when he was halfway across the room. For a moment, he felt a strange sensation wash over him. At that one instant, it felt as if the reactor was somehow... calling to him. He then shook his head at the ridiculous notion. The machine simply used a huge crystal for power to run the ship by collecting the photons that were given off as the Paksis expended excess energy. It wasn't as if the thing was actually alive, right?

It was at that moment that Slade decided to transform. Holding out his other hand, he made his Tekka-crystal appear. 

----------

The Dread Fighter was careening out of control as it sped through the passageway.

"_AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! I CAN'T STOP!_" The pilot cried out as she found herself hurtling toward a wall. In desperation, she began firing her ship's cannons. 

----------

In the reactor room...

"TEKSE..."

_**KA-BOOOOOOM!**_

Slade suddenly found himself thrown back as a wall exploded. He lost his grip on his bag, the robot, and most importantly, his Tekkacrystal, as something large plowed through the bulkhead.

Then everything went dark. 

----------

The Ikazuchi's main bridge...

"Minister! You mustn't do this!"

The commander of the now decimated Space Fleet of Tarak shook his head as he grabbed hold of a large lever. "We cannot afford to let this entire ship fall into the hands of those pirates! I must at least save the new sections of the ship! Before everything is lost, I will separate the old from the new!"

With these words, he pushed the lever forward. 

----------

Throughout the Ikazuchi, several series of explosive charges went off, causing the new sections of the ship to disengage from the original vessel. Within the barracks of the older ship, scores of cadets watched in horror as they witnessed their leaders abandoning them. The one known as Duero showed no fear. He knew that for all their brave talk, the brass were nothing more than hypocrites. 

----------

Back in the Paksis chamber, Slade slowly began coming around. His vision was blocked by something that was lying on top of him and he reached up with a hand to feel around. He encountered something that was round, warm and... squishy.

Uh oh. If this is what I think it is...

He quickly threw off whatever was on top of him and scrambled backward.

"_WAIT!_"

He stopped as he heard the voice and then watched as the person he had pushed remove her helmet.

Dita Liebely was more excited than she had ever been before as she removed her helmet. Her bright eyes twinkled as she shook her long mane of auburn hair. She had a decorative hairpiece that looked like a tiara.

"Wow! It's a real live alien!"

Slade was confused. Weren't they basically the same species? "Huh? Who are you calling an alien?"

Dita paid no attention to Slade's words as she raised a hand and began making some simple gestures with it. When Slade mimicked those hand signals, she became even more excited.

"I did it! It worked! I made first contact!"

No doubt in Slade's mind. This terrible enemy of Tarak was a ditz! Though he had to admit, she was pretty. The martial artist quickly got to his feet and began looking about.

Where's my crystal? There! He spotted his most precious possession lying on the floor several meters away. He then raised a hand to it.

Dita's eyes became even wider as she looked at what the alien was holding his hand out to. She glimpsed a sparkle of green light, which instantly winked out and then reappeared in his hand to form a crystalline object. She began applauding.

"Wow! Alien power is amazing! Do it again!"

The Tekkaman was not in the mood to do circus tricks. Sweeping up his travel bag and the robot, he then leapt down to a lower tier. "Bye!"

Dita quickly removed her spacesuit, revealing a very cute blouse and skirt ensemble. She then rummaged about her suit for her camera. "Wait! I want to take a picture!" 

----------

It didn't take the pirates long to take over the old section of the ship. In the barracks, the men were being herded at gunpoint toward the escape pods. As Duero walked with them, he began listening on the conversation between the females as they disrobed their heavy suits.

"I know that it's a disinfectant, but I don't think that I'll ever get used to the smell." Jura commented. She was a tall, voluptuous woman of twenty with long, lush, blonde hair. She wore a very snug dress with a plunging neckline and a slit on either side, showing off her fabulous legs.

"Has anyone seen Dita?" Meia asked. She was an athletic girl of nineteen with light aqua hair cropped short in a boyish style. Over her left eye she wore a kind of metal circlet. She was dressed in a form-fitting body suit that emphasized her curves.

"The last I saw of her, she had crashed through the bulkhead and... ow!" Barnette glared at her comrade Paiway. Barnette was Jura's best friend and wingmate and she too sported a lush figure and wore an outfit that had a open front to display her bosom's cleavage. She had dark, greenish hair that was also cropped short. "Watch it Paiway! My skin is very delicate you know!" She frowned as she looked down that the wound on her arm. The burn she received from the enemy shots when it penetrated her space suit stung, and she knew that there would be a scar after the wound healed. She became a bit distraught as she realized that her perfect skin was now permanently blemished.

"Just try to endure it." The apprentice nurse replied as she continued to add disinfectant to the wound. Nearby, several other pirates waited to be treated.

"Nurses are supposed to be more sensitive." Barnette complained.

"I am!" Paiway assured. She was only eleven years old with long, dark purple hair that was tied up in two odongos like a certain meatball head we know of. She was pirate's medical officer, though Duero could tell that she wasn't very good at it. She had promise, but lacked the proper training and knowledge to treat her patients effectively.

As the men were being forced into the escape pods, Meia went toward one of the holes in the walls. She then called to Jura.

"Jura! I'm going to go look for Dita."

The blonde shrugged. "This is the reason why I didn't want to bring along a trainee."

"We're short-handed enough as it is!" Meia snapped back. "If you didn't want to come along, then you should have said so."

"Oh all right! I'm coming!" 

----------

Meanwhile, on another part of the old ship, three more pirates made their way into what appeared to be a sub-bridge. After taking off their suits, they began exploring the consoles.

"Oh my! I can't read a word of this!" Ezra remarked as the screens showed nothing but the language of Tarak. She was a quiet girl with brown hair and gentle demeanor. She was usually one of the bridge crew of their ship, but the first officer had insisted that she come with her and the chief engineer.

"No problem!" Parfait said as she brought out a device. She had large, oversized glasses and her dark brown hair was tied up in two large braids. "I knew that something like this might happen, so that's why I made this Inter-Pricko! I'll make one up for you too commander...?"

However, Buzom was not even interested as she casually began downloading the computer's data to their command ship. She was a statuesque woman with silver-blonde hair and wore something that looked like a harem's outfit. As she continued to download, she spoke into a communicator.

"Have all the men been immobilized? Good, then dump them."

"Huh? You already know how to read this?!" Parfait gasped.

"That's the elite for you." Ezra shrugged.

"Darn! And I worked so hard in making this thing too!" 

----------

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Duero simply ignored the pirate as he reached into a locker and pulled out his trench coat.

"Get into the capsule now!" The pirate demanded.

"There's time enough for that later." The medic replied as he turned around.

"Do as you're told, or I'll shoot!" She emphasized her point by leveling her blaster at him.

"I'm no threat to you." Duero said simply as he eyed Paiway and her patient. "I happen to be a doctor."

This immediately caught the attention of the pirates. An expert physician was something that the female corsairs sorely needed, since Paiway was still just an apprentice nurse. However, they were still uneasy about the thought about letting a man touching them. 

----------

"Go away." Slade said simply as he tried to distance himself from the girl who was following him wherever he went.

"Wait! Let's just sit down and have a little chat!" Dita called as she took a few snapshots of Slade.

The martial artist groaned as he looked about for a way out of the Paksis chamber. He had thought about blasting his way out, but that would be hazardous, being in close proximity to the reactor. So he thought that he might find an exit, but with this girl continually pestering him, it hadn't been easy. He was tempted to just blow her away, but she wasn't a threat and that innocence of hers made him so...

"We're really a peaceful race!"

Whatever! Where's an airlock when you need one?! 

----------

Some distance from the old segment of the ship, the newer section was in orbit near Tarak. On the bridge, the Prime Minister's pride was severely bruised at the moment. This was supposed to have been his greatest moment, but those pirates made a mockery of his Space Fleet. They were even letting their prisoners go in the escape pods, but he wasn't fooled by their attempt at pity. However, he knew just the thing to get back at them.

"Prepare to fire the space torpedo Murimasa!"

"Minister, are you actually going to destroy the old section of the ship?" His first officer asked in disbelief.

The Prime Minister did not reply as he glared angrily at the main viewer. I'd rather destroy it with my own hands then let it fall in the hands of women!

On the underbelly of the new section, a large door opened and a cylindrical object was lowered. 

----------

On the old section...

Ezra gasped as she looked at the readout and saw the danger.

"There's a missile being locked onto us!"

Buzom relayed the message to her captain. The aged woman nodded as she replied.

"I see it. Losing the ship would be a shame, but let's get out of here!"

The order to evacuate was given and the pirate ship began laying down covering fire as it moved toward the Ikazuchi's old section to retrieve its crew.

Meanwhile, Duero was just finishing his ministrations on the last patient.

"There, that should do it." He secured the bandage on Barnette's arm and nodded. With the added medication, there wouldn't even be a scar.

The medic then contemplated Barnette with a natural curiosity. Like most men on Tarak, he had never seen a woman before and she was quite different from the propaganda films.

Barnette became extremely agitated at his gaze.. "What? Do you find something interesting about me?"

"Actually... I do."

"Don't expect any thanks!"

"I don't. I suppose I'll go now."

Behind him, Paiway was busy writing down on a notepad. "He touched a total of five girls." 

----------

The pirate ship flew to the underside of the old Ikazuchi and connected a boarding tube to it. The crew extraction commenced, but time was running out. 

----------

"Isn't the missile ready yet?" The Prime Minister growled.

"Sir, it's still in the process of fueling!"

"It has more than enough! _FIRE!_"

At that command, the Murimasa was launched, followed by a second torpedo. 

----------

"What's the status, BC?" The pirate captain demanded.

"Crew extraction is nearly complete." Buzom replied. "I'm the only one left on my team. Three under Meia's team haven't reported in yet."

"We'll let them return on their Dreads. Get back here on the double!"

"Roger!" 

---------

The reactor room...

"_WHAT PART OF GO AWAY DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!_" Slade was at the end of his patience. He had tolerated Dita's pestering long enough. He was about to say to hell with it all, transform and blast his way out. That was when Meia and Jura arrived on the scene.

The Dread leader called out to her wayward subordinate and then grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Dita, what are you doing?! You know better than to go off on your own!"

"I'm sorry Meia." Dita apologized as she took one last look at her first alien.

Slade let off a relieved sigh and went back to the business of getting out. As he walked off, he was given a casual once-over by Jura.

Hmmm... not too bad, for a man. I like the shoulders. She then shook her head. She was from Mejele and men were the enemy! _Where did that come from?! I don't like men! _

----------

"All three accounted for. We're leaving now on our Dreads!" Meia said to her communicator as she and her subordinates ran toward their ships. However, just as Meia and Jura were lifting off, Dita ran into one tiny problem...

"OH NO! MY DREAD IS STUCK AND I CAN'T GET OUT!" 

----------

It was true. With the front wedged tightly in the hole to the reactor room, the fighter was effectively trapped. On the other side of the wall, Slade was about to transform when he saw the problem. He had to make a decision. He could just transform and escape imminent destruction, leaving the girl to die or...

Though he was no longer Ranma Saotome, he still felt the desire to protect the innocent and this girl certainly qualified. Though it meant cutting it close, he decided to do the honorable thing. Raising one hand toward the Dread, he focused his power and fired a tight blast at a space below the twin booms of Dita's fighter. The bulkhead gave way, enlarging the hole and freeing the Dread.

In her cockpit, Dita gasped at the act of kindness and the power the alien had displayed. "Wow! You're a really cool alien!"

Slade simply shrugged as he held up his Tekkacrystal. 

----------

Meia and Jura breathed out in relief as they saw Dita's Dread move back out of the hole. Since they were on the other side, they had not witnessed how the ship had gotten loose. Not that they had time to think about it. They had just started their escape when they realized that they were too late. 

----------

The pirate ship...

"We can't avoid a direct hit!" One of the bridge crew declared.

"Hit or miss, it's our destiny." The old captain said as she prepared for the worse. 

----------

"_TEKSETTER!_"

Just as Slade's transformation began, the missiles hit, causing a massive explosion that engulfed both ships. 

----------

On the new section of the Ikazuchi...

"Minister! We're losing mass!"

The commander nodded with satisfaction as he witnessed both ships being engulfed into a kind of vacuum and disappeared from sight.

"I hope you enjoy the taste of defeat." 

----------

Slade found himself falling in a sea of greenish-blue. His body felt as if it were on fire as energy flooded his entire being. The sensation was unlike anything he had ever felt before, and yet it did not feel painful as he felt an unknown presence nearby and making him feel more relaxed.

As he fell, Slade saw that he wasn't alone. Three others were falling with him and as darkness enveloped him once again, he saw an image of something that would forever shape his future. It resembled his Tekkaman form, but was larger. Then the last image he saw was that of a certain girl as he heard the words...

"_MR. ALIEN!_"

To be continued...

Author's Notes  
Yes, I know that this sounds like the first episode of Vandread, but rest assured that more changes will occur as time goes on.

The revision is relatively minor as I filled out a few things and changed some terms. 


	3. Chapter 2: Where Are We Now?

**Tekkadread**

Disclaimer: Ranma Saotome, Tekkaman Blade and Vandread belong to some other people, but I'll use them anyway.

: Thoughts

**Chapter 2**

**Where Are We Now?**

Slade was dreaming. At least, he thought he was. That's what it felt like as he saw himself being surrounded by countless images. Some of the images were of the places and beings that he had met during his voyages through space. However, most of those mental pictures were from his earliest memories; memories that had been eroded by the centuries he had spent in the Teknopod. He could only make out blurred forms of people that he had seen during his childhood. One image was that of a kind-looking woman with brown hair. Another was of a fat man in white with a kerchief over his head. He also saw a small child with odd-shaped weapons in its hands. Then a very terrifying scene of himself as a child, standing in the darkness as dozens of red eyes glared at him from the shadows. He felt as if he was being swallowed up in that void as the eyes closed in on him. 

----------

Many light years from Mejele and Tarak...

The pirate ship and the old section of the Ikazuchi violently reappeared in space. Both vessels were severely damaged, but the older one began giving off tendrils of light from its Paksis reactor core. On board the bridge of the pirate ship, the crew began to rouse themselves.

"Uuuuhhhhh... this doesn't feel like the afterlife. Where are we?"

Magno Vivian, age one hundred and eight, and captain of the pirates looked about. Her bridge crew were regaining consciousness and didn't seem any worse for wear. Then the ship shuddered as something took hold of it.

Magno looked at the main viewscreen and gasped as she saw that the old section of the Ikazuchi was moving as if it were alive. It was sending out strange crystal-like arms that were collecting all the debris and incorporating them into itself, including the pirate ship!

"What's it trying to do? Is the crystal trying to swallow the entire ship?!" 

----------

The two vessels became linked by a thick stem of crystal as the Ikazuchi's belly merged with the top of the pirate vessel. Inside the female ship, the sections began undergoing their own metamorphosis as the Paksis began infusing all circuits, cables and mechanisms. The women worked desperately to stop it, but it wasn't long before the craft was completely engulfed. 

----------

A few minutes later...

Inside the reactor room of the Ikazuchi, the three Dread pilots who had been at the center of the explosion came to, and were quite surprised to find themselves lying on the floor.

"Is... everyone all right?" Meia asked.

"I'm... okay." Jura replied as she rose from the floor.

"Where's... Dita?"

"Hi!"

Both girls turned and saw the apprentice pilot lying on her belly and waving to them some distance away.

The overly excitable redhead began mumbling. "Something... went beep... and then.... _VROOOM!_ Alien power is _SO_ amazing!"

Lying nearby and still unconscious was Slade. 

----------

The captain of the pirates, her first officer and the chief engineer stepped into the reactor room. They had been informed by their supplier Gascogne, (or Gasco, which she hates), that the two ships could not be separated from the outside, so they had decided to check on the problem at the source.

Meia and her two subordinates greeted them as the squadron leader apologized to the ancient female. "I'm very sorry that you had to come all the way up here, Captain."

Magno waved her off. "That's quite all right. I just had to see this for myself." She began walking and looked about the room at the Paksis' handiwork. The entire chamber was covered in crystals. "Unbelievable." She then caught sight of some movement and her gaze fell on a certain man who was just starting to regain consciousness.

"This was the man that Dita was chasing after." Meia explained.

"So this is the one, eh?" Magno said, then remarked. "It's been a long time since I've seen a man. Were their faces always this stupid-looking?"

Slade was just starting to open his eyes, when he heard that stinging jab. As soon as he began to get to his feet and saw the captain of the pirates, a small bit of the old Ranma Saotome personality made itself known. His mouth moved a little too fast for his still foggy mind to consider.

"You're not exactly easy on the eyes yourself, old ghoul." 

----------

Later...

Okay_... so that wasn't exactly the **RIGHT** thing to say for a first meeting._

Slade found himself once again behind energy bars, this time on board the women's vessel.

As he looked about, he found that he wasn't alone. Nearby in a corner was a certain doctor who had not fled with his crew in the escape pods before being caught in the explosion.

"Hello, Mr. Third-Class citizen." Duero greeted.

"So who are you?"

"The name's Duero Mcfile. And you?"

"Slade."

"No last name?"

"I don't have one." _I can't remember if I ever had one._

"You're not like any third-class citizen I've ever seen." The doctor remarked. "You took down nine guards while unarmed. I thought only the elite were trained in such hand-to-hand methods."

"They're... just some skills that I possess."

"And exactly how did you get past security?"

"I... just got lucky and they were sloppy, that's all."

"I don't believe that for a minute. From what I saw at the ceremony, your movements were too well coordinated and you showed that you've had a lot of extensive, physical training. While you were out, I examined your body. Now before you get all excited, I only did a basic examination and checked your vital signs like heart rate and breathing. Your body is in excellent physical condition, far more than expected from a third-class citizen. If it weren't for that ID Tag, I would have thought you were from the top one-percent of the elite combat divisions."

"You're very observant... doctor." Slade admitted. He had noted the medical insignia on Duero's trenchcoat.

"So do you care to tell me how and when you learned those skills?"

"Nope." _I couldn't anyway. I don't even remember how I became like this._

It was then that he noticed that the robot he had been carrying was lying nearby with its screen showing nothing but static. Then it began to quiver and suddenly sprouted metal arms and legs. Its screen activated and displayed a pair of large eyes. The thing stood up and looked about while scratching the top of its head in confusion.

"Where am I? Who am I?"

"You sure have changed since then." Slade commented.

The machine looked up at him in puzzlement.

The Tekkaman sighed as he decided to retrieve something that he had left in the Paksis reactor room. He sat in a cross-legged position with a hand resting on each leg and began concentrating. 

----------

As the two ships continued to reformat themselves, the pirate crew continued to work to stop the changes, but with no such luck. Before long, every circuit, cable relay and mechanism of the pirate vessel and the old Ikazuchi were flooded with crystals. As such, the engines were completely shut down and most systems were offline.

In the engineering section of the ship, Parfait and her crew were trying to figure out the extent of the damage, but didn't know where to start. As Parfait ordered her staff to insert Linestar Particles into the main relays to gain control of the systems, no one noticed a small, emerald-colored crystal lying near the Pakisis core. It glittered slightly as it received the psychic recall command from its owner and disappeared before anyone could see it. 

----------

Back in his cell, Slade became a bit puzzled as he mentally registered the return of his crystal to its subspace pocket. It seemed a bit different than from before. He made an internal check on himself and noted that his inner energy stores seemed somewhat... off. It wasn't anything remotely life-threatening and all his Tekkaman circuits seemed to be working, assuring him that his powers and ability to transform were intact. He decided to let it go for now as he wondered just what he was going to do now. 

----------

In the depths of the former Ikazuchi, a panel opened up at the base of a statue. Out crept the cowardly Bart, who had been in hiding since the explosion. As he looked about while wondering what had happened to the ship, a shiver went down his spine as he realized that he was in BIG trouble. As a piece of crystallized bulkhead fell down and nearly crushed him, he let off a scream and landed hard on his rear.

"Damn it! This isn't funny!"

It was then that he looked up and saw that he had been discovered. A certain Dread Squadron leader was aiming her laser-ring at him and her thumb was just a scant millimeter from the firing stud. 

---------

In the decontamination rooms...

"Paiway! Let us out! It's freezing in here!" Barnette continued to pound on the glass as she and four other girls were being doused with cold water. They were in their undergarments and were in danger of catching pneumonia.

However, the apprentice nurse sat at her desk and shook her head. "Not until all the male germs are gone." She then went back to writing in her diary. "Even in times of crisis, the teen idol Paiway does not lose her cool..." 

----------

A little later, Magno had decided to question the prisoners and had ordered them to be brought to the interrogation chamber, which was now in the old section of the Ikazuchi. Slade had decided not to offer any resistance as he and Deuro were escorted under heavy guard. He wasn't concerned that his wrists were bound. The restraints that the women had put on him were no better than the men's and he could break them apart just as easily. The weapons that were trained on him were also of no consequence. He could tell by the way his captors moved that their combat skills were good, but nowhere near as high a level as his own.

No, this would be an opportunity to gather information, such as where he was and just what had happened to both ships. He too had noted the changes that the Paksis had caused. It would also be a chance to learn just what these women were like. After living on Tarak for several months, he was curious to know how the 'fairer' sex lived. Walking beside him was that strange robot.

As he and Duero entered the interrogation chamber, they saw that another man was already in the so-called hot seat. As soon as he saw him, Slade immediately categorized him as a noncombatant. He definitely had little in the way of battle experience. The way he trembled and shook made him look even more pathetic.

As the two sat down, the doors opened up and in walked the captain of the pirates.

_Hmpf! It's the old ghoul again._

Magno gave each man a once over and snorted. "So these are the only men left, eh? They're nothing more than kids." She gave an especially hard stare at Slade. She hadn't forgotten that 'old ghoul' remark.

"Hey it's interrogation time! I'll tell you everything!" The little robot began hopping around the old woman. It was obvious which side it was taking.

The pirate captain looked down and smirked. "Well, how nostalgic! A Navi robot, and this one's still working."

"I'm afraid that I don't follow." Duero said.

"I thought this ship belonged to Tarak." Slade said.

Magno snorted again as she addressed them. "I'll have you know that this ship was actually one of a fleet of ships that was sent from a planet Earth to colonize other worlds. This happened long before your fathers were even born. However, your cowardly grandfathers stole this segment and fled into the night."

The robot nodded as it continued with the explanations. "They overhauled the section and added residential areas."

Magno nodded. "That's right. We're just taking possession of it again. So technically speaking, this ship is ours. Now the big question is, what exactly are we going to do with you?" She began licking her lips as she said, "Perhaps we should roast you over a slow fire. I always did like my men's innards medium rare."

This made Bart almost piss in his pants, but Slade and Duero remained calm. The doctor had been trained to maintain his focus. As for Slade, he became disgusted at Bart's reaction.

"Oh please! You don't actually believe that propaganda crap, do you?"

Bart gave Slade a puzzled look. As for Magno, she became intrigued.

"My, aren't you the brave one."

"You could say that I'm a little more... open-minded. I like to see and experience things personally. Besides, what I've seen so far fits in."

"Oh? Like what?" The pirate captain asked.

Slade paused for a moment, then replied. "From what I've gathered, the people of Tarak and Mejale have been pretty much isolated from each other, right? So with no real contact for over three generations, it would make sense that rumors and myths would develop. It's also reasonable to assume that both governments would invent stories and such, to maintain the fear and hatred of the other gender, right? And I have a feeling that the spacesuits that your crew members wore, were made to look scary to capitalize on that fear. You've probably heard of how men describe women and use those scary suits and helmets to give your crew a psychological edge. Am I correct?"

Magno's eyes narrowed and BC became a little tense. Their expressions were all Slade needed as he said, "It's a common enough tactic in any fight. If you're able to psyche out your opponent and keep him guessing, then you're halfway to winning."

Duero nodded. "Are you sure you're not one of the elite?"

Magno was silent for a moment, then gave Slade a condescending smile. "Very good. What's your name, young man?"

"Slade."

"Well Slade... you are interesting."

The martial artist and Tekkaman chuckled a bit. "Oh, I'm a LOT more interesting than you know."

It was at that moment that the ship shuddered from some kind of impact. The alarms began going off as the bridge crew announced that they were being attacked. 

----------

"CAPTAIN! We're being attacked by some unknown enemy that appeared out of nowhere!" Parfait declared.

"Can you move the ship?" Magno asked through the communications network.

"Engines are still dead! And the auto-defense systems are just barely working!"

Magno then switched to the Dread crews and the launch areas. "Barnette!" 

----------

"Paiway locked us in! We can't get out!" 

----------

"The main Dread platforms are offline! We can't launch any fighters!" Gascogne reported. 

----------

The only good news came from Meia as she, Dita and Jura ran toward their ships, which were still in the Paksis Reactor Room. However, as they arrived, they stopped and gasped.

Within the huge room were their vehicles, but each had taken different configurations after being engulfed by the Paksis.

"Are these... ours?" Jura asked.

"Wow!" Dita gasped.

Meia paused but then ran toward her fighter and climbed aboard. The other two Dread pilots followed suit and checked their systems.

Inside her Dread, Meia nodded. "Looks like the systems haven't changed much. How about you two?"

"I think mine will fly." Jura replied via her comlink.

"They must have been powered up!" Dita responded. "This is so exciting!"

"Don't bite off more than you can chew!" Meia warned as her ship lifted off and flew toward the hanger, followed by her wing mates. They were soon in the black void of space, and were immediately set upon by... the enemy. 

----------

The force that was attacking the pirates were unlike anything they had ever seen before. Small fighter craft that resembled odd-shaped octopi let loose with volley after volley of laser and cannon fire at the fused vessels and their three defenders. Some distance away was the alien mothership, which resembled a large seed. Every now and then, the front of it would open out and it would release twin cubes, which would break apart into more fighters. It seemed that for every one fighter the Dreads destroyed, five more would take its place. It wasn't long before the pirates found themselves badly outnumbered. 

----------

"Excuse me please! We're really a peaceful race!" Dita cried out as she made her craft swerve to avoid enemy fire.

"Dita! These are our enemies!" Jura scolded, then wondered just how Dita's flying skills had improved so dramatically. She had managed to execute a complex evasion pattern.

Meia noted that her craft's response time was better. "The controls have been altered somewhat." She then winced as her fighter took a hit off to the stern. "Who or what are these things? Are they really aliens?"

"Well they're definitely not men." Jura assured.

"No kidding! They're really BAD aliens!" Dita screamed. 

----------

Magno winced as the ship took several more direct hits. Since they couldn't move, they were unable to regroup with the Dreads and were a sitting duck. Their shields were just barely holding. Then another section of wall exploded behind them and a scream was heard.

At this point Duero decided to put his skills as a physician to work. He began getting up, just as a crew member was trying to help her fallen friend. She instantly pointed her laser-ring at him, but Duero held up his hands in a non-threatening manner and said, "Don't worry, I'm a doctor. I just want to see what I can do for her."

When the girl lowered her ring, Duero then began instructing her to help him remove the debris and get her to sick bay.

When Bart saw this, he also saw an opportunity. He then turned to Magno and began talking.

"Well now. It seems that we are in a bit of a situation here, but I think there's a way out of this for all of us."

The captain gave the smooth-talker a suspicious look, but bid him to go on. "I'm listening."

Bart nodded. "Even though we are enemies, it seems that we need to make our survival our top priority. So I suggest that we call a cease-fire and devote all of our talents to fighting this threat."

"I see. Not a bad idea. So exactly what did you have in mind?"

"Well, as you can see, our good doctor here would be of use in treated your wounded. As for me, though I may not look it, but I'm actually a helmsman."

"A helmsman?"

"Warning! Danger! This guy is trying to pull something!" Pyoro said in alert.

"Be quiet!" Magno commanded then addressed Bart again. "I think that it would be in our best interests to pool our resources... for now."

Bart smiled as he offered a hand. "So it's a deal?"

The pirate captain slapped away the offered hand. "Now listen. I have no intention of becoming chummy with you. You three are still our prisoners, got that?"

Bart sighed and nodded. "Very well."

"What should I do with the other one?" Buzom asked.

"Take him below to the storage area and keep watch over him." 

----------

Bart gasped as he was led toward the transformed bridge, which consisted of two comm stations and what appeared to be some kind of pool that was extended outward.

"So can you operate it?" Magno asked.

Bart walked forward and looked down at the glowing blue liquid. "You've got to be kidding!"

"Are you saying that you don't know how to operate it?"

"No! It's not that! It's just that this is one of our military's closely guarded secrets!" He began to cautiously extend one leg toward the pool, then let off a scream as the liquid became alive and formed a tentacle to grab the limb and pull him in.

Both Magno and the robot stared wide-eyed.

"That's some secret weapon." The old woman breathed.

"He doesn't know how to use it, does he?" The robot said. 

----------

Inside the gel, Bart suddenly found himself naked and floating in some kind of virtual reality environment. All of a sudden, he saw images of the battle that was occurring outside and reacted with his typical outbreak of cowardice.

"NO! GET AWAY!"

As he thrashed about, the entire ship thrashed with his movements, catching everyone aboard off-guard.

"Well what do you know? The ship moved!" Magno remarked.

It was then that the engines came to life as Bart used the oldest tactic in the book, retreat.

However, the enemy was not going to let them get away as the mothership followed while releasing more drone fighters. 

----------

Down in the cargo bays, Slade was left standing in an unused area as Buzom and a subordinate kept watch over him.

"You should be safe down here. This portion of the ship hasn't been used and it would be too much trouble to keep you in the brig at this point.

"Whatever." Slade replied as he simply stood.

BC gazed at him then said, "You seem... unconcerned with what's happening. Don't you know that if we lose this battle, we lose everything, including our lives? Your fellow men are risking their lives to help with battling the enemy. Perhaps you should join in as well?"

"Not my concern. I don't want to get involved. It's worked for me so far."

"Oh? Are you a coward then? I had heard that men always protected the weak and helped those in need. Was it all a lie then?"

"You seem to think you know everything about men, don't you?"

"No, but I do know that everyone, men or women, must make choices in their lives and have to live with the decisions that they make. If you decide to just stand by and do nothing, then you will have to consider just what's at stake here." She then turned and motioned for her subordinate to follow her.

"But what about him?"

BC shrugged. "Leave him. It's not like there's anywhere for him to go. Not that there's anywhere for us either." 

----------

Out in space, the Dreads were slowly being overwhelmed by sheer numbers and the ship was taking a serious beating. In the sick bay, Duero stated that since the medical facilities were offline, he'd have to do things _HIS_ way. This made the female that was assisting him very nervous as she called for Paiway.

In the decontamination rooms, Paiway was screaming to everyone to shut up and stop getting hurt.

The ship was running for its life, but the alien mothership was steadily closing in. 

----------

In the storage bay, Slade considered BC's words and thought about the consequences. If he did go out to fight, then it was more than likely that he'd end up as some lab specimen or something. He'd be taken as a prisoner again as soon as the crisis was over. Besides, these pirates meant nothing to him. He had no loyalty to Majele or Tarak. He was just a wandering Teknoman who owed allegiance to no one and roamed the cosmos. That's how he liked it.

But a certain phrase came back to him. To protect the weak and help those in need. She made it sound like some kind of duty. In the most distant memories was something about a duty. It had something to do with his martial arts skills, he couldn't quite put his finger on it. It was... it was... it was a martial artist's.... duty...

_It **IS** a martial artist's duty to protect the weak!_

As soon as Slade thought those words, he decided on his course of action. 

----------

"I'm going to fight, Captain." Slade said simply as he contacted the bridge through the communications systems.

"What did you say?" Magno asked.

"Those three Dreads can't hold out much longer, right? I'm going out there to give them a hand."

"Are you... a pilot? Are you able to use those Vanguards?"

"Those hunks of junk? No."

"If you're not a Vanguard pilot, then how do you expect to fight? Can you fly a Dread?"

"Just direct me to the nearest airlock. I'll take care of the rest."

"An airlock? What are you, insane? Do you intend to fight the enemy with just a spacesuit?"

"That would be ridiculous."

"I should think so."

"What I have now will be just fine."

"WHAT?!"

"I said that I'm more interesting that you'd ever imagine, Captain. Now, are you going to direct me to the nearest airlock, or do you want to lose your ship, your crew and your life?"

Magno gazed into Slade's gray-blue eyes and saw the intensity within them. He was serious. Though she didn't understand just what he had in mind, she then nodded to Buzom to release the manacles on Slade's wrists. Just as the first officer was about to press the remote...

"Don't bother." Slade said as he held up a hand and showed both women a pair of crushed restraints. He had long since broken free. Tossing the now useless device over his shoulder, he then asked, "Now, where's that airlock?" 

----------

Slade ran into an airlock that was situated near the Dread launching platform and shut the door behind him. The lights within the small enclosure went dim as Slade prepared to join the fray. He didn't notice that the scanners were active and his actions were being transmitted to the main bridge.

At that point, he made his Tekkacrystal appear and held it aloft.

"TEKSETTER!" 

----------

"Reinforcements? Who is it?" Meia asked as she and her wing mates had been informed that help was on the way.

Just then, a bolt of emerald light burst forth from the bottom of the pirate ship and streaked toward the enemy. Within that light was...

"MR. ALIEN!" Dita cried out happily.

"He's our reinforcements?!" 

----------

To the astonished eyes of all those who were watching, Slade's body underwent its startling metamorphpsis. The clothes were immediately stripped off as he was bathed in a near-blinding luminescence. The energy formed a kind of transparent cage in the shape of Slade's Tekkacrystal. In an instant, his body became endowed with impenetrable armor as alien metal became fused with flesh and bone. His already superhuman powers were boosted even further and were now augmented with quantum energy weapons. When the transformation was completed, he broke free from the crystal structure and went into a combat pose. Tekkaman Slade was ready and the odds of survival had just shifted in favor of the humans. 

----------

"Waaaaahhhhh!" Dita cried out as she was about to collide with three enemy fighters. However, all three fighters suddenly exploded into fragments and when the light faded, she gasped as she saw someone was standing on one of the booms of her Dread.

"Mr. Alien!"

"Will you stop calling me Mr. Alien?" Slade said in an annoyed tone. His armor allowed him to patch in with the Dread's communication systems.

The two thrusters on his back activated, driving the Tekkaman toward a dozen more enemy units.

Inside his armor, Slade initiated his next attack.

_TEKKAMAN BATTLE MODE!_

His arms stiffened at a downward angle. The shoulder armor units swung down to cover his arms. His feet locked down with his legs as other parts shifted to form a more dynamic form. Then two thrusters located on his ribcage activated and surrounded him in a field of emerald green that looked like the wings of a phoenix. He suddenly sped forward like a comet, and anything he collided with, was reduced to space debris. With each pass, several enemy fighters were annihilated. When fifteen were obliterated, he morphed back into his standard form and faced off against the mother ship.

The main unit of the enemy now deduced that the newcomer was its greatest threat and spewed out two more cubes, which exploded into fighters. However, that only meant more targets for Slade to destroy. Twin beams of light flashed from nacelles on his shoulders, which Slade grasped. The beams solidified into twin, triangular-bladed weapons with serrated edges. That was when Slade dived into the new formations of foes and began slicing them apart. Alien armor was no protection against him as he systematically destroyed them with quick thrusts and slashes. When fifteen more were dealt with, he joined the ends of his two weapons together to form a lance. As a trio of fighters came in from above and fired at him, he simply twirled his weapon like a propeller and deflected each shot. Then he threw his weapon at them, nailing them all. As they exploded, he shot out a kind of energy rope from one of his gauntlets to retrieve his lance. 

----------

The pirate ship...

"Impossible! How can one man have such power?!" Buzom gasped.

Magno was rendered speechless. She had to admit that Slade was right. He WAS more interesting that she had thought. 

----------

"He's so... elegant!" Jura said with a bit of appreciation in her voice. She liked the way that armor looked and began fantasizing herself in such.

"YAY MR. ALIEN!" Dita cheered. 

----------

As Slade polished off the latest opponents, he saw that the main ship about to release more fighters.

_NOT THIS TIME!_

The shoulder units of his armor flipped up, revealing a set of energy collectors. They began glowing as power began condensing within them. When enough power had been harnessed, Slade directed his attention toward the enemy.

"VOLTEKKER!"

Just as the alien craft let loose with two cubes, Slade's weapons launched a massive beam of quantum energy. The fighters were completely engulfed in the blast just as they had begun to separate. The beam kept on going and hit the mother ship while its front was open. There was some massive damage done and the ship reeled. Slade then dove toward it to finish the job. Behind him, a certain Dread fighter followed him in.

"Dita! Fall back!" Meia ordered.

"This nothing to worry about! Mr. Alien can win! I just know it!" 

----------

As Slade was about to let loose with another blast from his Voltekker, he turned around and saw Dita coming in.

"No! Get back!"

The alien mother ship took this opportunity to attack and let loose with metallic tendrils that struck him in the back. At almost the same time, Dita's Dread collided headlong into him.

There was a massive explosion which engulfed both the Tekkaman and Dita's craft.

On the bridge of the pirate vessel, Magno lowered her head and said, "Well, I guess that wasn't enough of a miracle to save us."

Buzom nodded as she suggested that the crew abandon ship.

At that moment, the Navi robot let off a beep and pointed to the main viewscreen. Something was emerging from the center of that explosion. 

----------

It was... big. It stood five stories high. It resembled Slade's armored form, but was colored navy blue with gold trim. It was humanoid in shape and had a long cannon barrel mounted behind each shoulder. On each forearm was a pair of blades that glowed with an emerald light. It looked menacing enough to tear apart a planet with its metalshod hands alone. What everyone was witnessing was the perfect fusion of Tekkaman and Dread Fighter... the Tekkadread!

"What is _THAT_?! Is it another secret weapon of the men?" Magno asked.

"Is this... a real miracle?" Buzom wondered. 

----------

The huge mecha dove toward the enemy ship. Several smaller attack drones were released to stop it, but they were swatted aside like annoying gnats. The ship tried to seal itself up, but the machine simply pried it wide open with its hands. Then the mammoth cannons swung up and rested on the shoulders, pointing forward. They powered up and cut loose with a blast ten times more powerful than Slade's Voltekker. The energy caused the back of the enemy craft to bulge out before erupting. The mecha then moved back as the alien mothership exploded like a supernova. Pirate crew and males alike were in awe at the spectacle. When it was all over, all that was left of the enemy craft was a hollow, burned-out husk. 

----------

Within the giant mecha, Slade let out a deep breath of relief. It was all over.

_Wait a minute! I don't need to breathe when I'm transformed. And why do my legs feel like that something's on them?_

Slade realized that he was in some kind of cockpit and was sitting in a chair. He noted that he was wearing not his armor, but his regular clothes. Then he looked down at his hands. They were resting on the control pads of the ship. They were also resting on another pair of hands. That was when he realized what or rather who was sitting in his lap!

"Mmmmm. I just knew that Mr. Alien would protect us." Dita was half-asleep as she leaned back against Slade and snuggled close.

Slade had a really big sweatdrop behind his head. 

----------

The pirate crew and the men all waited in the hanger deck as the gigantic Tekkadread came in for a landing. Just as it was about to touch down, the mecha suddenly shifted back into Dita's Dread fighter. As soon as it had landed, a section near the top of the craft opened up. A light emanated from it for a moment and everyone saw Slade in his Tekkaman form, emerging from the hatch.

He hopped down to the hanger floor, causing a loud clanging sound to be heard. This caused the female guards around Magno to raise their weapons toward him. Who could blame them, especially when they were facing off against a seven-foot tall force of destruction?

The pirate captain however, motioned for her guards to stand down. After seeing what Slade was capable of, she didn't want more hostilities to break out.

Slade nodded as he mentally commanded his armor to be returned to its pocket in subspace. His Tekkaman form faded away and all that was left was a fully-clothed human. The instant the transformation was complete, Slade collapsed in exhaustion. The crystal fell out of his hands and skidded across the floor. When it came to a stop, Buzom immediately picked it up. The guards rushed to Slade and hauled him up.

"Take him back to his cell." The aged pirate woman said. "Gently."

"Wait! Mr. Alien!" Dita cried out as she disembarked from her Dread. However, more guards blocked her path to Slade as he was being taken away. She gave a pleading look to Magno, but the old woman did not seem to acknowledge it as she turned to Buzom. The first officer handed her the crystal, which Magno pocketed in her robes before heading off to the bridge.

To be continued...

Author's notes

With this chapter, we now begin to diverge a bit from the original storyline. I'm still working at making this a more interseting fanfiction, though I haven't seen the entire Vandread series yet. In any case, this has progressed better than the old Teknoman Ranma storyline. 


	4. Chapter 3: It's Going to be a Long Trip

**Tekkadread**

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 + Vandread + Tekkaman Blade = Fanfic + No lawsuits

: Thoughts

**Chapter 3**

**It's Going to be a Long Trip**

Somewhere out in the depths of the galaxy, a group of female pirates and their male captives were drifting in the star-studded void. The pirate vessel had been completely engulfed by the Ikazuchi's Paksis Pragma and the two vessels had become one. Inside the new vessel, the captain of the pirates, her second-in-command and the Dread squadron leader were in conference.

"Continue with your report, BC." Magno said.

The first officer nodded as she began showing the latest reports on a holographic monitor. "Yes, Captain. The entire ship has been completely swallowed up by the crystals. The bridge, residential and engineering sections have been completely transformed. Fortunately, the Reg systems and the Dread Launch platforms were unaffected and we're installing the new data. It seems that the Paksis Pragma has finally reached its peak. The bridge has stopped sliding and is currently overlooking the ship's garden."

"And our position?" The captain inquired as she used a hand fan to cool herself down. The ship's environmental systems were not working properly at the moment and the average temperature was thirty degrees Celsius.

The holographic image changed as BC continued. "It's hard to believe, but we're in a completely different galaxy from our own. It will take approximately 270 days for us to return to our home system."

The aged woman sighed. "What did we do to deserve being swept across space?" She then addressed Meia. "And what have you to report?"

The blue-haired female nodded. "The three Dreads that were swallowed up and transformed by the Paksis, including mine, no longer fit on the regular Dread platforms. We've modified the cargo bay on the men's side of the ship and we're storing them there. While doing so, we made a few discoveries. It seems that this section of the ship hasn't been used for a long time. The circuits and cables are decayed and useless."

"I see. And what of our enemies?"

"I decided to send out a scouting party to the wreckage of that alien craft to see if we could get any data. Since we're short-handed, I asked for... volunteers."

"Volunteers?" 

----------

"Wow! Look at that! It's an Adamsky-type UFO! Did you see it Ms. Gasco?"

Gascogne sighed as she sat behind Dita in her Dread. It was going to be a long investigation. 

----------

_**WHOOSH!**_

Slade winced as he stood in only his boxer shorts, while he was being sprayed down. Standing beside him was Duero Mcfile and Bart Garsus, as they too were in their underwear and were being put through the decontamination process. The fact that the women were using icy water wasn't helping.

Watching them from a monitor on the bridge, Magno and Buzom considered their prisoners.

"So these are the only men on board?"

Buzom nodded. "Yes, Captain. It appears that we will have to depend on them until we fully understand this ship."

"Yes." The old woman agreed as she recalled back to the time after the battle. When the enemy had been destroyed, the ship automatically went into standby mode and released Bart from the navigation well. "I had never seen anything like it. And that other one..." She shivered a bit as she recalled what Slade was capable of. The fact that the Teknoman had let himself be put back into his cell indicated that things were stable, for now. However, Magno was quite aware that Slade could destroy them all at any time... that is, if he had his Tekkacrystal. The object that Buzom had impounded was being analyzed at this moment, but the pirate captain was still feeling a bit unnerved by all this. 

----------

The brig...

"It was so unnerving!" Bart whined as he tried to strike up a conversation with his fellow prisoners. Sitting in a corner of their cell, Slade was busy gulping down food pellets. Those things tasted awful, but as hungry as he was, he couldn't really complain. The last battle and that strange fusion with that girl's Dread had taken a lot out of him.

"One after another, my comrades fell all around me, until I was the only one left!" Bart Babbled on. "But I knew that I had to go on and retake the ship from the women. And now, fate has given me two able allies! What do you say?" He gazed upon Slade as he knew that his power would be more than enough to conquer the women.

The one who had been Ranma Saotome continued to ignore him while eating. A minute later, he polished off the tray and tossed it away. "Damn! That stuff really tastes like crap!"

Deuro nodded. "Indeed, though that didn't stop you from eating enough pellets to feed an entire platoon for a week. You have quite an appetite."

Slade nodded. "The Tekkaman Power System makes my body hyper-metabolic and I burn up a lot of calories in battle. The transformation alone uses up a lot of energy."

"I see. However, that still doesn't explain how you got to be that way. So tell me, what kind of man turns himself into a machine? Are you some kind of secret weapon of Tarak?"

"No."

"Then what exactly are you?"

"I'm... human and...?"

"And...?"

"And that's all that I am. I'd tell you more, if I could, but I can't remember anything past that."

"You're saying that you don't remember how you got to be like that?"

"That's about the size of it."

Bart shrugged as he said, "Well, we can figure it out later. By the way, what was it with you fusing with that female ship?"

Slade glared at Bart. "None of your business. Would you mind shutting up now? There's enough hot air in here as it is!" He then emphasized his point by holding up a fist.

"Whoa! Take it easy!"

"Please try to forgive him." Duero soothed. "He's just uneasy and trying to keep calm with conversation."

Bart was impressed. "Hey. You're pretty sharp. No wonder you're one of the elite. So how about it? With my talking, your brain and his muscle, we could beat these women!"

"Oh really? I'd like to hear how you're going to plan to do it."

Bart stiffened when he heard Buzom's voice. He slowly turned around and saw the first officer and two of her subordinates standing in front of the cell. He could only guess how long she had been standing there. 

----------

"So you haven't been able to find out anything about it?" Magno was speaking with the engineer Parfait on the communicator.

The girl with the oversized glasses shook her head as she glanced at the crystal that was under a molecular scanner. "The substance of this crystal is unidentifiable and it's not emitting any energies at all. I can't figure out anything else about it. It's as puzzling as the Paksis Pragma."

Magno thought about it. _Hmmm, it seems that crystal by itself isn't anything special, though that male was able to use it somehow to transform and destroy the enemy. I've got a feeling that the answer may lie with that man, what was his name again? Oh yes, Slade._

She then told her chief engineer to continue working as she then switched over to another line. "Gascogne, how are you coming along with your investigation?" 

----------

In the engineering section...

"What's with the air conditioning? It's thirty degrees in here!" One of the crew complained via the communications.

"Don't complain! It's thirty-six in here!" Parfat replied as she turned to ne of her subordinates. "So how's it going?"

The technician was busy struggling with the Navi robot, trying to hook up its systems to a console. However, the machine wasn't in a cooperative mood.

"Beep! Don't touch me!" 

----------

Meanwhile, in another section of the ship...

"As the valiant crew continued to work, Magno's family suddenly found themselves facing a new crisis."

"Hey! Hold that elevator!"

Paiway looked up from her diary and saw Barnette and Jura carrying various personal items in their arms. Due to the changes that had been made during the initial transformation of the two ships, several of the pirate crew had to relocate to new quarters.

"Slacking off again, Paiway?" Barnette said in an irritated tone.

"Instead of just sitting around, why don't you do something more important?" Jura said.

"I am doing something!" The apprentice nurse indicated to her diary, then held up a hand puppet in the shape of a frog, and spoke in a cartoon-like voice. "Barnette and Jura sure have a lot of stuff." She then looked at the toy as if she were speaking to it. "It's a good thing that our room wasn't changed so we don't have to move, right? Kero!"

"She's really pissing me off." Jura growled.

It was then that Barnette noticed that something was tied to Paiway's waist. "Hey, what's that rope for?"

Paiway then answered in her puppet's voice. "This is only a temporary elevator, so it won't be my fault if it falls. See you later. Kero!" The girl was then hoisted off the lift, leaving two Dread pilots in a state of shock.

"You're kidding right?! Paiway!" 

----------

Inside the wreckage of the alien craft...

The head supplier spoke through her suit's communicator. "Progress is pretty slow and things look extensive. We've got a lot of things to go through here. This doesn't look like any ship I've ever seen. In fact, this thing looks more like a factory than a ship."

"Wow! Look at that!" Dita exclaimed as she pointed at something. "Hey, Ms Gasco! Can I go take a look around?"

"Absolutely not! We've got a job to do!" The older woman said as she flicked with her finger at Dita's helmet. In the vacuum of space, this push sent her flying backward.

"Whoa! I can't stop!" 

----------

The pirate captain chuckled as she signed off. "Very well then. I'll leave the investigation up to you, Gascogne."

She then made her chair turn about and ride down a rail, which lead to the main bridge. Waiting for her was Buzom and her captive Bart.

"Heh, heh. I hear that you wanted something from me." Bart said nervously.

The old woman nodded and pointed to the navigation well. "Yes. That thing. We haven't been able to operate it, so tell us how you did it."

"Er, yes of course. Given the circumstances, I have no choice." He held up his manacled hands, indicating to Buzom that he needed his hands free. The first officer complied and used the remote to release them. Bart then walked over to the well. "Now listen very carefully. This is a male ship, so therefore, only men can operate it. So I suppose it was fortunate that I was around. In fact, you could say that I'm indispensable to you and... errk!"

At that moment, the well flared and sucked the hapless man into it again.

Magno sighed and shook her head. "I really don't understand this system at all."

Inside the navigation well, Bart was once again surrounded by holographic images of the ship's outer environment.

"Okay... let's see here... uh..."

All of a sudden, the ship's systems and main drive came on line and the vessel leapt forward and began accelerate away from the alien wreckage. The sudden movement caught everyone off guard as the inertia dampeners were unable to keep up. Jura and Barnette were thrown off their feet in the elevator and their possessions went scattering all over the place.

Back on the bridge, the crew were unable to stop the ship.

"The system just booted up and we're on some unknown heading!"

"What in blazes did you do in there?!" Magno shouted to Bart.

His image appeared on the monitor as he shook his head. "Hold on! I didn't do anything!" 

----------

At the wreckage...

Gascogne nodded as she took out the data disk, in which she had downloaded all the data from a computer. "All right, I've finished copying the data. Let's get back to the ship."

"Roger." Dita nodded as she began using her suit's maneuvering thrusters to propel her toward the opening. However, when she got to it, she gasped to see that the ship was nowhere in sight. 

----------

The bridge...

"Ms. Gasco! Can you hear me? Ms. Gasco!" Ezra kept on trying to raise their comrades, but with no luck. The young woman was sweating profusely as her breathing became a bit more shallow. When Buzom ordered for marker beacons to be released, Ezra let off a gasp and collapsed to the floor. 

----------

Slade was dreaming again. He had begun to see faint images of those same people of his distant past, though he still did not recognize any of them. He wondered just why those same people had such meaning to him that he kept seeing them over and over again in his sleep. He began mumbling out names that he couldn't place. One name in particular was said several times.

"U... U-Ucchan..."

At that moment, he felt something warm press against his forehead and woke up. He let off a yelp when he saw that Duero's face was pressed up against him. He quickly backed off.

"What the heck are you doing?!"

"Taking your temperature." The physician said. Since his hands were bound by the manacles, he had to use other methods of gauging body temperature. "You were mumbling in your sleep. Who's Ucchan?"

"Ucchan?" Slade repeated in confusion. The name sounded familiar, but he just couldn't place it. "Is that what I said?"

"Several times actually. I thought you were feverish from the heat. So who IS this Ucchan?"

Slade could only shrug. "I don't know. Ucchan is... Ucchan, I guess."

At that moment, the first officer and two guards came up to the men's holding cell and addressed the young doctor.

"You're name is Duero, correct? It's your turn now."

As the guards shut down the energy grid, the second-in-command of the women glanced at where Slade was. At present, he was just sitting down and looking at nothing in particular. It appeared to all that he was totally harmless, but appearances can be deceiving. After seeing his transformation and the power he possessed in that state, Buzom was very cautious. However, she was certain that without his crystal, Slade presented no danger, or so she hoped. 

----------

In the navigation well, Bart shouted out as he saw just where was the ship was heading, which happened to be a nebula.

"We're going in there?! How do I stop?!"

The vessel dove headlong into the gaseous envelope of the nebula's outer ring. Various chunks of ice and debris smacked into the hull of the ship. Unfortunately for Bart, due to his link to the ship, whatever hit the hull would register as pain to him. A stray chunk of ice slammed into the top near the bow, which caused him to yelp out in pain. The hit was felt as a hit to his head and he was thrown back a bit.

"Will somebody raise the shields, please?!" 

----------

Bart wasn't the only one with problems. More than ninety percent of the ship's systems went offline. Jura and Barnette found themselves trapped inside the elevator, buried underneath their own possessions. They were in a precarious position as they were crowded with not only clothing and personal items, but also some firearms and live ammunition. Meia found out to her dismay that the Dread platforms were shut down, so she couldn't send out anyone to retrieve Dita and Gascogne.

In the sick bay, Duero looked over Ezra as she lay on the bed. Just then, the lights went off as power to the medical instruments was cut. With one lightning fast movement, he plucked the communicator out of an aide's holster, much to her displeasure.

"I'm trying to work on a patient here! Make power to the sick bay a top priority!"

In the engineering section, Parfat was exasperated. "I'd love to do that, but we've got our own problems here! I can't do much since I can't read men's language!"

Duero looked up at Buzom, who was standing nearby. "If I were there, I could read it."

The first officer shrugged. "Go right ahead." 

----------

Engineering...

"It's a man!" One of the engineering staff screamed.

Parfat simply glanced at Duero and nodded. "Oh, you're here. Good." She led the doctor over to the worktable where the Navi Robot was hooked up. "I can't do much with this data if I can't read it."

"It's just a Hi-type #6." Duero replied as he began reading the data. "So what were you trying to do here?"

Parfat began explaining to the physician that the Navi robot and the ship's Paksis were somehow linked. She had thought that the robot might make a good sensor. However, she hadn't been able to figure out the reason behind the ship's current condition.

Duero nodded. "According to this readout, there's a lot of built-up impurities, possibly due to the merging of the two ships."

"Maybe. So can you fix it?"

"I'm sorry but I'm a doctor, not an engineer."

"That's no excuse! Everything that moves is alive! It's a doctor's job to fix all living things, right? That's what I always believe!"

The male doctor considered the feisty female before him. "You have a very interesting view about things." 

----------

As the vessel's lower half immersed itself into the nebula's outer rings, the engines shut themselves down. The ship was now moving forward on momentum alone.

"Engines have shut down, captain." The crew member said.

Magno sighed as she was currently being cooled by a portable fan and had a bag of ice over her head. "Just when I get the good news that we've stopped, we end up in a nebula." It was then that her fan suddenly shut itself off.

"Captain! Sensors indicate that a section of the ship is transforming again."

Outside of the hull, new crystal formations began to appear as the ship once again started to reshape itself. 

----------

"Curious." Deuro remarked as he read the information on the Navi robot's screen. "It seems that the ship is reacting to the nebula's composition."

Parfat considered the situation, then slammed one fist into the palm of her other hand. "That's it! The ship must be using the nebula to neutralize all the impurities!"

Duero couldn't help but agree. "It seems to be reacting just like a living thing." 

----------

Back at the alien wreckage...

"All I see are markers." Dita said as she looked through her binoculars.

"Something must have happened." Gascogne thought for a moment, then said, "Well, we're finished here, so let's get going."

"Roger."

Just as the two women began making their way back to Dita's Dread, the entire structure suddenly became alive as metal tendrils snaked out from its center and reached out for the nearest living thing, which happened to be the chief supplier. Before she knew it, Gascogne found herself being ensnared like a fly in a spider's web.

"Ms Gasco, look out!" 

----------

ON the pirate vessel...

"Captain, I have an idea." Buzom said as she spoke to her superior through the communications systems. She was currently in the sub-bridge of the former Ikazuchi.

"Go ahead." Magno sighed as she continued to sit in the sweltering heat of the control room.

"Since we can't launch any Dreads, we are unable send any of our own crew to go look for Dita and Gascone. However..."

"However?" Magno inquired.

"However, the airlocks are still operational. It's a potential risk, but we could have that man go look for them." She then held up Slade's Tekkacrystal.

"Hmmm... not a bad idea, BC. All right. Explain the situation to him and see if he agrees to it."

"Thank you, Captain."

"By the way, BC. What are you doing in the men's section of the ship?"

"Just... fulfilling my duty as your first mate, Captain. Over." 

----------

The brig...

Slade sighed as he lay in the cell. Currently, he was wearing only his boxers and muscle shirt. It had gotten very hot. His hands were behind his head, which was resting on his jacket, which he was using as a makeshift pillow. As he lay on the floor of the cell, he wondered just what he was going to do.

It wasn't as if he couldn't get out. He had more than enough power to smash out of his prison and escape the ship. It was just that he didn't know where to go. He was in unfamiliar and decidedly hostile territory. Even a Tekkaman had his limits. So where did that leave him? For the time being, he had decided to stay on the ship since it was a source of food and a place for him to rest, at least until they got back to Mejele or Tarak territory. Until then, he'd bide his time. In any case, the females didn't really have anything that could harm him. They may have his crystal, but he could retrieve that at any time.

It was then that he sensed the presence of someone approaching and looked toward the door. Buzom walked into the detention area and smirked as she saw Slade in his undergarments.

"Nice outfit."

"Whatever." Slade said nonchalantly as he began putting on his clothes. "So what do you want?"

"I've come... to ask a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"Two of our crew were left behind when this ship took off and came to this nebula. I would like you to go out and look for them."

"Is there something wrong with you sending out your own pilots for that?"

"Unfortunately, yes. We can't launch any of our Dreads. However, with your abilities, you could easily use one of our airlocks and go retrieve our two crew members." She then held up Slade's crystal. "I know that you need this to transform. We haven't been able to analyze it, but this is the source of your power, isn't it? Without it, you can't really do anything, can you?"

Slade chuckled a bit as he finished putting on his clothes. "You're half-right. I need it to transform." He then held up his right hand and focused his will. Buzom let off a startled gasp as the Teknocrystal disappeared from her hand and reappeared in Slade's.

"However, that doesn't mean that I'm powerless without it." The cosmic warrior then aimed his other hand with palm spread out. He let loose with a small, but focused bolt of ki and quantum energy at the cell's lock, causing the bars to short-circuit. Slade casually stepped out and faced off against the pirate first officer.

Buzom's usual cool attitude was a bit shaken from the display. It was obvious that Slade could have reclaimed his property and escaped at any time. She now found herself facing off against a very irritated individual that could destroy the ship and everyone aboard in a heartbeat. Her instinct for self-preservation came to the fore as she raised her right hand to aim her laser-ring at him. However, Slade moved with far more speed and had her wrist in a viselike grip before she bring her weapon to bear. She winced as he applied more pressure as a warning. Any tighter and her wrist would be pulped.

Slade glared at her and said in a low voice, "I could crush every bone in your wrist to powder, without even trying. I could destroy this entire ship and everyone on board without breaking a sweat, and I don't need to transform to do it. I could do all that, and there wouldn't be a thing that you or anyone else here could do to stop me." Slade paused for a long time, giving his words a chance to sink in. "However, I'm not going to do any of that. Instead, I'll go look for your comrades, because you asked so _NICELY_." He gave her a smirk before releasing her wrist and turning to exit the detention center.

Buzom rubbed her sore wrist, then raised her arm to aim her ring at him. However, that was when she noticed that something was absent from her index finger.

"Looking for this?" Slade did not even look back as he held up her ring, then used his thumb to flick it back toward her. The jewelry piece made a couple of light bounces on the floor before coming to a stop at the woman's feet.

Buzom could only stare at the ring for a long while. She had not even seen him remove her ring.

_He's good. Could he be one of the elite?_

----------

At the alien wreckage...

"It's no use, Ms. Gasco!"

At the moment, the head supplier of the pirates was too concerned with her current predicament to remind Dita that her name was Gascogne. She was trapped in a kind of metal cage that kept her from moving. The young pilot had tried to cut her free, using the blasters on her suit, but the metal was too dense.

"Ill get the tools from the Dread!"

Gascogne shook her head. "Don't bother. Have you forgotten our mission? Someone has to get back to the ship with that data!"

"I can't just leave you here!" The young girl shook her head.

"Who said that you're leaving me here to rot? This isn't some third-rate soap opera! You can come back for me with more help, right? Now get going!"

Dita nodded reluctantly as she turned around and headed for her waiting fighter.

However, no sooner was she gone, then the insides of the wreckage became alive again. Panels opened up, revealing more alien units. Gascogne began to have that sinking feeling. 

----------

In the nebula...

"Sensors are picking up a large object heading on a collision course with us. It appears to be an asteroid-sized chunk of ice."

"Did you hear that? Do something!" Magno cried out to the man who was in the navigational well.

However, Bart screamed out hysterically as he saw it and was of no help whatsoever. 

----------

In the engineering section...

"The input/output ratio is off." Duero remarked as he read the readouts.

"That's because there aren't enough link routes!" Parfat declared.

"But the existing ones can't take the strain."

"Don't give up! There HAS to be an answer!"

The physician thought for a moment, then decided to approach this problem in the way Parfat thought of it. If it was behaving like a living being, then perhaps his medical training would apply.

"How about a bypass? When there's a blocked artery, you simply need to make an alternate route to relieve congestion."

Parfat nodded. "A detour huh? Great idea!" She patted his shoulder in agreement. "You know... you wouldn't make a bad engineer!" She turned to her co-workers and began giving new orders. "Listen up, everybody! We're going to get busy!"

Duero looked down at his shoulder and contemplated her touch. 

----------

Back at the alien wreckage, Gascogne was quite amazed to see the alien units begin repairing their damaged mother ship, which confirmed her hypothesis that the vessel was actually one giant factory.

"They can regenerate under these conditions?"

It was then that she noticed something large and ominous making its way toward her. The machine looked like some gigantic bug, with many clawed appendages, and two large green eyes glaring right at her. It was a sure bet that the thing wasn't there to chat.

The chief supplier laughed nervously as she said, "Well... I guess I know what you want for dinner." 

----------

Out in space...

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH! NO!"

Dita was running for her life as several enemy units were in hot pursuit of her Dread. She had been using every evasion tactic that she could think of, but the alien fighters kept on chasing her.

"I REALLY HATE ALIENS WHO DON'T KNOW WHEN TO GIVE UP!"

It was then that her sensors were picking up another blip heading toward her.

"From the front too?!"

At that moment, her ship was rocked by a near-miss, which caused her to accidentally fire her Dread's blasters. Twin beams lanced out and caused a small explosion some distance away when they struck their target. However, when the burst of light faded away, a large blast of energy was fired back in return. This beam however, passed over Dita's Dread and destroyed her pursuers. It was at that moment that Dita was close enough to see who was out in front of her.

Slade was pissed. The shoulder-mounted Voltekker units lowered down as he angrily said, "HEY! IS THAT ANY WAY TO THANK A PERSON WHO CAME TO GET YOU?!" Even though Dita's weapons had no effect on his armor, it still ticked him off.

Dita however, was overjoyed to see Slade. "Mr. Alien! You came for me!" She then made her Dread speed toward him.

"Hold on! Wait a minute!" The Tekkaman put on his braking thrusters to decelerate, but as soon as the Dread was in close proximity, there was a bright flare of light. Tekkaman and Dread once again became the Tekkadread.

"Wow! What is all this?" Dita looked about in delight as she sat on Slade's lap in the cockpit.

"Hey! Will you stop moving around so much?" Slade did not like the way she was squirming around in his lap, which made a certain part of anatomy become stimulated.

The young Dread pilot smiled warmly as she turned her head to face him. "I want you to know that I believed in you and I knew that you'd come to rescue me."

"I didn't come to save you!" Slade retorted angrily. "I... just went to look for you... that's all."

"Well thank you." 

----------

Gascogne definitely did not like her situation. The machine was cutting away at her restraints with absolute efficiency, but she knew that it was only doing so to get at her.

"You guys work pretty efficiently. I don't suppose you'd consider joining us?"

The automaton's response was to extend a wicked-looking claw appendage.

By now, the chief supplier was sweating. "So it's finally my turn, eh?"

However, before the arm could touch her, the machine was suddenly engulfed by something huge and metallic. It was instantly crushed as Gascogne looked up to see the Tekkadread.

"You guys put off saving me until the last instant, but I guess I couldn't have asked for a better screenplay ending." 

----------

The pirate ship's engineering room...

"We've managed to secure up to thirty-six bypasses!" Parfat declared. "How are things on your end?"

Duero closed up the Navi robot's panel. "I can't do any more back here. We'll have to make do with what we have now."

"The balance will be thrown completely off if there aren't enough link routes!"

"Do you know what doctors do in situations like this? We believe in the patient's will to live."

The female engineer smiled and nodded. 

----------

The gigantic mass of ice tumbled its way closer to the ship as the crew frantically worked to prevent disaster.

On the bridge, Magno mouth became a straight line as her aides continued to report.

"Distance is twelve hundred kilometers and closing..."

It looked like the end. Then the fan beside her turned itself back on.

"Huh?"

The aide cried out with joy. "The system just rebooted itself!"

Down in the engineering section, the Navi robot became active again, stood up and smartly saluted Duero and Parfat.

"Beep! I'm back in service!"

"Yes! We did it! We make a great team!" Parfat grasped Duero's hand, then suddenly blushed as she looked down at it.

Duero was also feeling somewhat... odd. 

----------

"HARD TO STARBOARD, THIRTY DEGREES!" Magno Vivian barked.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! IT'S TOO LATE!" Bart screamed as he braced himself for the end.

There was massive explosion in front of the ship but it wasn't the ice chunk colliding into the hull. When Bart opened his eyes, he saw that the asteroid had been vaporized. In its place, flying ahead of them was the Tekkadread.

"Hmpf! So he saves the day again!" Bart said with disdain. 

----------

Inside the Tekkadread's cockpit...

_Man! Am I tired!_ Slade sighed as he lay back in the seat.

"See! I told you it was amazing!" Dita said excitedly as she bounced up and down on Slade's lap, incidentally making him even more agitated.

Beside them, in obvious discomfort was Gascogne. "Yeah, yeah. So how about getting me out of here?" 

----------

Later that day, Magno and her first mate made a special announcement to everyone aboard the ship.

"We have deciphered the data that was salvaged from the alien ship. I want you all to look at this." Buzom turned on the main data feed to all the monitors on the ship, which depicted a strange-looking planet. "This is the enemy's home world. We don't know its exact location, but apparently, they possess some serious firepower. They seem to perceive our presence in their territory as an invasion and therefore, we expect more battles on our return flight to Mejele space."

The first officer continued with her briefing. "We have also learned that the enemy is planning a major operation, which calls for the total obliteration of our home world Mejele and the male planet of Tarak. For some unknown reason, a hostile force is intent on wiping out our two worlds."

Then the captain took over. "We are pirates and therefore are not bound to Mejele or Tarak. However, it would not be in our best interests for an unknown force to wipe out our potential 'customers.' Therefore, I intend to reach our home system before the enemy and inform both worlds of this crisis. In order for this mission to be successful, we must incorporate the men we have captured into our crew."

The bridge crew were the first to be shocked as Bart smiled smugly as he lay on the floor of the bridge.

"Heh. So you finally see it my way."

The old woman continued. "There are many things that we don't understand, such as this ship and that large machine." _Plus our 'friend' Slade._ Magno silently added before finishing her announcement. "However, I expect we shall learn more, one day at a time. That is all."

Just as she switched off the comlink, Ezra and Duero appeared on the bridge.

"I'm sorry about before." Ezra apologized. "I'll be returning to my station now."

"Did you find out the cause of her fever?" Buzom asked Duero.

"There seems to be some kind of parasitic organism feeding on my patient's body."

This immediately made Magno alarmed, but Ezra quickly shook her head while blushing.

"No! No! It's not that! You're wrong! It seems... I'm going to have a baby."

The bridge crew became very excited as they crowded around the mother-to-be.

"When in the world did you become a fahma?"

"So who's the ohma?"

Bart became very confused. "But I thought that babies were made in a factory."

The doctor pondered it for a moment. "Come to think of it, I have heard the rumor that females reproduced internally."

Ezra bowed to her captain. "Forgive me, Captain. I had been planning to tell you after the last raid on the men, but..."

Magno waved it off. "There's nothing to forgive, Ezra. I hope you have a healthy baby."

"C'mon Ezara! Who's the ohma?" A bridge member asked.

"What is that, exactly?" Duero asked with genuine interest. One of the reasons why he became a doctor, was because he had always been fascinated with the mysteries of female physiologies.

"The ohma is one who donates an egg and the fahma nurtures it in her womb. Don't you know anything?"

"This is the first time I've ever heard of it."

As they continued to converse, no one noticed Buzom as she edged her way toward a console and removed a small data disk.

"We certainly have our share of surprises, right BC?"

The first officer quickly turned her attention to her captain. "Er, yes Captain!"

"The whole crew better work as hard as they can, especially for the new life that will be joining us soon."

"This will indeed be a long trip." Buzom added. 

----------

Meanwhile...

"Jura?"

"Hmmm?"

"When do you think they'll get us out of this elevator?" Barnette sobbed.

"Somebody help us!"

To be continued...

Author's notes

Well, now that I've seen the second DVD of Vandread, I've got a pretty good idea as to where this series is going to go. There will be more plot changes and such as I move forward with this fic. There will be more divergences as I write about Slade/Ranma's interactions with the all-female crew as well as the mysterious enemy.

The revisions so far are just to fill in a few gaps and so on, as well as correct a few spelling errors. The fourth chapter will have the most changes by far so stay tuned! 


	5. Chapter 4: Slade's New Partners

**Tekkadread**

Disclaimer: Why me?

: Thoughts

**Chapter 4**

**Slade's New Partners**

One of the ladies rooms...

"Did you hear the latest rumors? I heard that men have some strange tube stuck between their legs."

"No way! Are you sure that it's not some kind of antennae? Gross!"

"I wonder if it makes it hard for them to walk?"

Dita listened closely to her comrades as they discussed the latest gossip about men. She then glanced at herself and noted that she didn't have such an appendage. She then decided to find out for herself if the rumor was true about Mr. Alien. 

----------

"What... ARE you doing?" Slade asked in annoyance as he had been preparing to drop his pants in front of the toilet.

Dita said nothing at she simply watched with a twinkle in her eyes and a smile on her face.

In a flash, Slade zipped up his pants, grasped Dita by the collar and hauled her out of the men's restroom. The female found herself planted outside as Slade slammed the door behind him.

"But why can't I watch?"

"I can't go with somebody watching!" 

----------

In the sick bay...

"Peculiar... this organ doesn't even exist in a man's physiology." Duero said as he watched the computer display of the gestating baby within Ezra.

"It's called the uterus."

"A reproductive organ... most interesting."

As she lay on the bed, the female began explaining. "I wanted to have a baby, so I decided to carry the seed."

"What's the seed?"

"It's when an ohma donates an egg and has it spliced with the genes of the fahma. Then it is implanted into the fahma's womb to be nurtured. Where I come from, anyone who wants to be a fahma, can be one."

"Hmmm... so that means I can be one?"

Ezra developed a sweatdrop as she tried to think of a way to explain. 

----------

Meanwhile, the chief engineer Parfat was holding a contest for a new name for the ship, since everyone agreed that the name Ikazuchi was a lousy choice. All the crew would contribute and the winner would win a year's worth of food coupons that could be redeemed at the Trapeza. With the Navi robot, now being called Pyoro, logging in all the suggestions, Parfat would later give the list to the captain for her to choose. One of the suggestions was the name Nivana, which was BC's idea. Parfat hoped that the captain wouldn't choose that one. 

----------

Buzom had just been inserting a data disk into a message pod when she was suddenly contacted by the Captain.

"BC, is everything ready?"

"Er, yes Captain!"

"Why are there two pods?"

"Well... this second one is for Tarak. I thought it would be prudent to warn the men as well."

Magno considered her first officer for a moment, then nodded. "Very well. Launch the pods."

Twin cylindrical objects shot out of the bottom of the ship and sped their way toward their distant destinations. However, they only managed to make a few hundred kilometers before suddenly being engulfed in an explosion. An instant later, a quartet of enemy fighters came onto the scene. 

----------

"RED ALERT! ALL HANDS TO BATTLE STATIONS!"

Alarms went off all around the ship as Dread pilots began scrambling. Their current record for rapid deployment stood at forty-nine seconds. Meia and Jura were already running for their Dread fighters when they saw Dita standing near her own ship.

"Dita, what are you waiting for? Board your Dread!" Meia cried out.

Dita made a pirouette as she stated the reason why she was still standing around. "It was Mr. Alien! He changed and flew right out of here! _WHOOSH!_ He was _SO_ fast!"

"What? He's out there already?!" Jura exclaimed. They had only gotten the order to scramble just fifteen seconds ago.

Then just as suddenly as it started, the battle alert was over as the alarms stopped. A minute later, the three pilots saw a tall figure fly into the hanger. The Tekkaman landed in front of them and instantly transformed back into Slade. He casually tossed his Tekkacrystal into the air and deftly caught it again.

"Hmmm, four fighters... not even a decent warm-up. Hardly worth transforming."

Meia felt her anger rising at being upstaged by this... man! "JUST WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?!"

The former Saotome shrugged as he replied. "I thought it was my duty to protect the ship."

"You went out there without authorization!" 

"Considering that any further delay would have put the ship in danger, I assumed that the faster the threat was dealt with, the better. I'm only trying to lend my support as part of this crew. I figure that I saved you a lot of fuel, ammunition and energy."

"We don't need your help! And you're not part of this crew! Have you forgotten that you're still a prisoner?"

Slade cocked his head in thought, then said, "My memory must be slipping then. As I recall, your Captain did state that myself, the good doctor and the... navigator, were to be part of this ship's crew for the duration of this voyage."

"Don't give me that! You're just a showoff! You're nothing without that crystal!"

"Oh... is that a challenge?" Slade smiled at her as he made his crystal disappear. He couldn't help but admire her fiery spirit. She had potential and the heart of a true fighter. However, he would not back down from anything or anyone. It was just the way he was.

Meia's temper was hitting its boiling point as she glared at his smirk. It was bad enough that men were now serving alongside them, but this man absolutely infuriated her! And now he was daring her!

"Ah, ah!" Slade wagged a finger at her. "The warrior who loses her temper has already lost the battle."

That final quip made the normally level-headed Dread Leader lose her control. "AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH!" Meia then swung with her fist, intent on knocking Slade's head off.

However, the former heir to the Anything Goes reacted with inhuman speed. He simply sidestepped her punch, grabbed hold of her extended arm, and with a simple throw, flipped her like a flapjack. Meia found herself being thrown a dozen feet before landing painfully hard on her bottom.

Both Jura and Dita were shocked at seeing their leader so casually tossed.

Slade shrugged as he said, "She attacked me first. _THAT_ was self-defense." Without another word, he walked out of the hanger deck.

Dita looked at Jura. "Mr. Alien... has a point." 

----------

The bridge...

"He's a danger to this ship and crew morale!" Meia complained to her commander. Apparently, her ego had been bruised along with her posterior. She would not be shown up by that... that _MAN_!

"I take it that you do not approve of the new additions to our crew?" Magno Vivian asked.

"That's putting it mildly... captain. He doesn't follow orders, he's absolutely reckless and he's so... so... infuriating!"

"I see. Well... I'll admit that he is difficult to work with, but he has done us a couple of favors. Furthermore, his power is quite an asset, especially in our current situation. However, if you truly believe that he is detrimental to the operation of the Dread crews, then perhaps he might agree to a reassignment of duties?"

Meia felt a sense of accomplishment and smugness as she nodded. She'd show that _MAN_ his place! 

----------

The sick bay...

"You really shouldn't have angered the Dread team leader." Duero warned as he had Slade lie down on the examination table in his underwear. "We all have to work together on this ship."

The martial artist sighed. "Yeah... well, that girl... what's her name again?" Slade asked.

"Meia."

"Yeah, Meia. She's got a lot of spirit, and potential, but her attitude just rubbed me the wrong way. I never did care much for authority types."

Duero nodded in understanding as he looked at the medical monitor. "Curious."

"What?"

"All anatomical data has come up with nothing special. There are no foreign organisms or mechanisms. All extremities show nothing unusual. Heart and respiration rates are good, with all vital functions showing stable conditions. You're perfectly... normal."

"That's supposed to be a good thing, isn't it?"

"Well, technically speaking yes, but I had been hoping to find out the source your powers and how you are able to transform. However, I can't seem to find anything out of the ordinary about you."

Slade simply shrugged as he sat up. "Don't lose any sleep over it, Doc. I couldn't tell you how I got to be this way, even if I wanted to, because I don't know myself. All I remember is waking up one day and I suddenly have these powers."

"So you don't remember anything prior to this... awakening?"

"Well..." Slade thought back to those strange images that he had been having lately when he was sleeping. "I do get some burry images in my head from time to time... and I think they may have something to do with the time when I was little, but..." He shook his head sadly. "It's no use. I can't clearly remember anything further than that."

"It could be a kind of self-induced amnesia." The medic suggested. "Perhaps they could be a set of traumatic memories that you are repressing. Maybe something horrible happened to you while you were growing up, and you decided to shut out those memories."

Slade absently stroked the scar on his face, though he didn't realize it. "I... think that may be a part of it. One of those images was about... being in the dark and... seeing lots of... red eyes..." Duero's patient paused for a moment. "I... do remember waking up screaming sometimes after seeing that image."

It was then that Meia came into the sick bay with a smug look on her face and a computer pad in her hands.

The Teknoman had a feeling that he wasn't going to like what she was going to say to him. 

----------

Duero wasn't the only person that was mystified about Slade's abilities. In the engineering section, Parfat was still trying to determine how the Tekkaman Power System worked. She had spent the last two hours staring at the data that she had collected from her analysis of Slade's crystal. The information made no sense and she couldn't even begin to guess as to how that crystal was the key to his transforming into a force of mind-boggling power.

The only bit of information that made any sense was that the crystal seemed to be somewhat similar to the Paksis, which also left her stumped. However, the female had no intention of giving up. There just had to be an answer! If she could somehow duplicate the Tekkaman process, then that would give the space pirates a tremendous edge in fighting ability.

As she pondered about the mysteries of Slade's powers, she had decided to check up on a few unexplored areas on the men's side of the ship. As she wandered about the hanger where Meia, Dita and Jura's fighters were stored, she came across a large room that was near the Paksis reactor room. She opened up a door and saw that the entire place was flooded with crystal. In the far corner, she then spotted a large object that was halfway buried in Paksis. 

----------

The Reg System...

_**THIS** is where I'll be working now?_ Slade thought as he stepped into the ship's supply depot. Everyone was dressed in white and red waitress outfits.

Gascogne has just finished giving her staff the daily orders when she noticed the Teknoman.

"Ah yes! The new arrival! Girls, what's our motto?"

"_SMILE! SMILE!_" The girls said in unison as they simultaneously gave him a wave.

Slade wondered just what he was getting into. 

----------

"You've _GOT_ to be kidding!" Slade said as he found himself dressed in the uniform of Gascogne's staff. The frilly apron and skirt may look good on the slim and curvaceous females, but on a man's frame... (Just use your imagination, ugh!)

Gascogne smiled as she took in the appearance of the newest addition to her staff. "There. Now you are truly one of the stagehands."

"Stagehands?"

The head supplier nodded. "That's right. It's our job to make certain that all supply orders are filled... with a smile of course. Don't think that the actors are on their own up on the stage."

Slade was still in a state of shock and embarrassment over what he was wearing when the head supplier came up to him. He growled a bit, but Gascogne shook her head.

"You'd best remember our motto here. Smile, smile!"

Slade's snarl turned up into a very forced smile as he just barely kept his temper in check.

The supervisor nodded as she held out a hand. "Oh, and I'll be taking that crystal of yours. After all, you won't be needing it here. Don't worry, I'll keep it safe."

Slade was about to argue, but decided that it would be pointless. Besides, it wasn't as if he couldn't take it back when he needed to. With one flick of a hand, he made his crystal appear and deftly tossed it to her.

Gascogne caught it and then motioned for Slade to follow her. 

----------

Somewhere else on the ship...

"What is all this?" Dita asked as she and Pyoro explored the men's section of the ship. She was still very much interested in learning all she could about Mr. Alien. They had come across one of the food storage rooms and were now gazing upon huge mounds of nutrition pellets.

"This is where the men kept their food supplies." The Navi robot explained. "One pellet is enough for three hundred hours of labor."

Dita picked up a pellet and nibbled on it. She immediately grimaced at the pellet's foul taste and spat it out. "Ewwwww! Mr. Alien actually eats this?!"

"Well..." The robot replied slowly. "From what I heard, Slade doesn't care for the taste either, but this was all there was to eat on Tarak."

At that point, Dita smiled as she got an idea to get closer to Mr. Alien. 

----------

The Reg System...

Though he didn't like the idea of working in a skirt, Slade had to admit that Gascogne ran a very efficient operation. The members of her team were professional, though they kept on giving those annoying smiles. However, his assignments were even more demeaning than what he had back on Tarak. He had been demoted from being a cosmic space warrior to scrubbing toilets and mopping floors. He was now a glorified janitor.

_Oh yeah. I can understand why Meia was so happy when I got reassigned. She's probably gloating right now._

Though Slade was quite capable of simply ignoring the reassignment, he had realized that causing discord on the ship would be detrimental to the moral of the crew and he really didn't want anyone to get hurt because of him. They were all just doing their jobs, after all. Though he _REALLY_ hated the dress uniform of the Reg System.

Gascogne noted Slade's scowl and decided to have a little chat with him.

"Well now, it seems that someone doesn't remember our motto."

"Hmmm?" Slade turned from where he was currently scrubbing the Launching Bay.

"Smile, smile."

Slade would only growl in response. It was then that Gascogne gestured for him to follow her. She had something to show him. 

----------

"Don't start thinking that this job isn't as important as going out to fight the enemy." The head supplier said as she and Slade stood in a small projection viewing room. "We all have to do our part to keep this ship going and keep everyone alive. Don't think that we have it easy down here."

"Whatever." Slade said without even turning to face her.

Gascogne noted Slade's lack of interest and reached over to press a button. "Take a look at this."

A holographic image appeared on a viewer which caught the Tekkaman's attention. He saw the planet Mejele and what looked like one of its residential areas. As the images continued to play, Gascogne began explaining.

"This is our home planet Mejele. On the outside, it seems to be a beautiful and peaceful place. However, appearances can be deceiving. The people of Mejele are more concerned with their appearances than practicality. They constantly waste precious energy on trivial pursuits, like who has the better garden. Often, these personal contests often get in the way of what needs to be done. One time, there was a huge energy consumption and as a result... one of the residential units had to be shut down."

Slade nodded as he saw an image of a housing complex become dark. Gascogne continued explaining.

"Our captain had lost her home when that happened and that's when she started this pirate gig. It was perfect for those who had no other place to go. In piracy, there was no difference between male and female. Everyone had to work hard, but everyone shared in the rewards. Don't think that only certain people reaped the benefits while others did all the work."

Slade remained silent, but could understand where this conversation was going. He could respect the head supplier's views, which were perfectly valid. No one should be forced out of his or her home, due to the foolishness of one's neighbors.

"You know, you should consider yourself lucky. If it had been the Mejele military that had attacked the men that time, then you would have been dead before you even got to say mercy."

"I doubt that." Slade replied simply.

Gascogne gazed upon him and thought about it for a moment. "Yes, I suppose that would be true in your case, but not everyone is highly trained in combat and blessed with super-powers."

"Still... I can see what you're trying to tell me." The Teknoman admitted as he exited the room.

Gascogne smiled a bit as she watched him leave. 

----------

Gradually, Slade became very familiar with the workings of the Register and found it to be... a refreshing change of pace from the life of constant combat that had been his life. Though he was forced to sit out a few of the battles that followed, he still worked hard, and in some cases, he proved to be extremely useful... 

----------

A week after Slade had joined the Reg Syatem...

"Look out!"

The girls were scrambling for cover when the anti-gravity field failed and the huge payload of missiles started falling. They had been moving the ordinance to one of the loading bays when the lifter malfunctioned. The rack of ordinance that was being moved shifted and began heading downward.

A young member of Gascogne's staff, a pretty girl with long brown hair, screamed after she tripped and saw that the missiles were plummeting toward her. She knew that she was going to die, either from being crushed under tons of ordinance or when the weapons exploded when they hit the floor.

However, that disaster was narrowly averted when someone dropped his mop and rushed toward her. In a heartbeat, Slade raised his arms and caught the huge rack of missiles, stopping them from hitting the girl that was sprawled of loading bay. However, even his superhuman strength was strained to the limit and he knew that he couldn't hold up thirty tons of ordinance for more than a few seconds. Both arms were full, he was badly unbalanced and he couldn't transform to his much stronger form as a Tekkaman.

"H-H-HELP HER!" Slade gritted as the load trembled in his arms. "I can't hold... this... up!"

The stunned staff were shocked back to normal as two girls rushed in and pulled their comrade out of harm's way. A moment later, Slade set down the heavy weight, which made a dull clang on the metal floor. Fortunately, the missiles were not armed and did not detonate.

Slade collapsed to his knees and groaned as his arms cried out in agony. Gascogne quickly went to him and knelt down.

"Are you all right?"

Slade nodded as he looked up and gave her a weak, lopsided grin. "N...No problem. After all... we... gotta keep smiling... right?"

The muscular woman couldn't help but laugh at that one as she helped him up.

Nearby, the girl that Slade had saved continued to gaze at him while being tended by a co-worker with a first aid kit. However, the young girl did not appear at all thankful toward her rescuer. In fact, she gave Slade a deliberate scowl as she openly showed her hatred of men.

Gascogne hoped that this would not cause more conflict. 

----------

Later...

"Here. I thought you might like to take a break for a while." Gascogne said as she handed him a glass of orange liquid.

Slade nodded as he took the offered drink and sat down near the main console. "Thanks."

"I have to admit, you're a very hard and efficient worker... for a man."

"Sort of a backhanded compliment, but I'll take it." Slade replied nonchalantly as he drained the glass in one swallow. "So how's that girl I saved?"

"Ukyo's doing fine, thanks to you."

At the mention of that name, Slade stiffened and his heart skipped a beat. The head supplier noted his sudden change in expression and became intrigued. So far, all she had only seen him either with a cool, nonchalant expression or with a scowl.

"Is... something wrong?"

Slade was quiet for a long time before answering. "Did... you say her name was Ukyo?"

"Yes. Do you know her?"

"No... I've never met her before today... but that name seems... familiar."

The head supplier nodded. "She's a very dedicated worker, though her hatred of men is a little more extreme than what most of the crew feel."

"Oh?"

Gasogne nodded. "Yes. From the day she joined up with us, she's made no effort to curb that hatred. She totally despises men."

Slade shrugged as he finished his drink. "So what? I thought that all women of Mejele hated men. No offense to anyone on this ship."

"None taken. However, it's not because of the propaganda films and such, which makes her so angry toward men."

"So... what's the reason, if I might ask?"

"She never tells me the exact details, but she stated that it was men who caused a lot of pain to a distant ancestor of hers. She had been taught from the day she born to hate all men, though the reason behind it has faded over a long time. I don't think she even KNOWS the real reason for her hatred."

"Sounds kind of stupid to be raised to hate a person without knowing the reason."

"On that, I'll agree." 

----------

Ukyo Kuonji the seventeenth, the direct descendant of the original Ucchan, continued to glare at the hated male who was now a part of the Reg System.

For the last five hundred years, the females of the Kuonji clan had always hated the opposite gender. Ever since the original Ukyo had been disgraced, the females of the family line had always viewed men as untrustworthy and useless.

Though the original Ukyo's honor had been satisfied with the apparent death of Ranma Saotome, she had sworn off men and marriage completely, so that she would never again be hurt. She had embraced her femininity, but totally rejected anything that had to do with men. Since that time of betrayal, the women of her line had been reproducing through artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization. Whenever a male child was born, it would be given up for adoption. During the time of space colonization and the founding of Mejele, the Kuonji women happily embraced the newest method of asexual reproduction, thereby ensuring that no men would ever be born to soil their proud lineage.

Little did the present Ukyo know, was that the man who had unintentionally broken her ancestor's honor was alive and living on the pirate vessel! 

----------

A couple more weeks would pass and the ship's crew soon fell into a normal routine. Slade found that working in the Reg System was quite relaxing and was a way of escaping from that crazy UFO girl. It was that he didn't like Dita, but her constantly calling him Mr. Alien had been getting annoying.

During this time, the Nirvana had been attacked by the aliens, but they were merely small skirmishes at best and the Dread teams had no problems in beating them back. Meia became even more confident that Slade's power as a Tekkaman wasn't needed. However, that would soon change... 

----------

Engineering...

"This is what you've been working on for the last couple of weeks?" Gascogne asked as she looked over Parfat's latest project. "That's a _LOT_ of firepower for just one machine."

"Yep!" The bespectacled girl nodded as she closed a panel. "The captain and commander both agreed that the last few attacks from the enemy were just probing missions; like they were trying to figure out our strengths, weaknesses and battle tactics. So they asked me to come up with something to give the Dreads an edge. I modified this machine to act as a support vehicle."

"But... this thing looks like..." Gascogne continued to stare at the huge machine.

The engineer shrugged. "Hey, it was the only source of spare material I could work with. All the other available parts and resources were reserved for Dread maintenance and repair."

"What gave you the idea to use it?"

The head engineer began explaining. "Well, for one thing, we've already seen how effective using the power of the Paksis can be against the aliens. This particular machine was near the Paksis reactor when we got transported away, and when our ship merged with the Ikazuchi. It got transformed like Dita, Meia and Jura's Dreads. It's also giving off low-level energy emissions that's similar to the Paksis and to Slade's crystal."

"You mean this?" The head supplier took out Slade's possession.

"How did you get it?"

The older woman shrugged. "Since he's working in the Reg System and isn't fighting, I'm... holding onto it for safekeeping. Never mind that now. What did you mean that this thing is like the Paksis? I thought the reports said that it didn't give off any energy."

"Well, the preliminary reports showed nothing, but when I looked at a subatomic scan of its molecular structure, it showed that this crystal gave off a wavelength that was linked to the Paksis." It was then that she snapped her fingers. "Hey, wait a second! Let me have that crystal for a minute. I want to try something."

Gascogne cocked her head in puzzlement, then handed the engineer the crystal. "What are you going to do with it?"

"Take a look at this." Parfat pointed to a certain set of circuit relays which were infused with crystals derived from the Paksis. "Up until now, I haven't been able to get a response out of this machine's central processors and vital circuitry, because of all that Paksis crystal. The mechanisms and relays are functioning normally, but it seems to reject all attempts at controlling it. Now let's see what happens if I do this." She then held Slade's Tekkacrystal close to the circuit panel, which immediately came to life and started humming with power. When she pulled it back, it went dead. When she repeated the experiment of bringing the crystal close, then pulling it back, the panel turned on and off accordingly.

"Well, that's interesting. So what you're saying is that this thing won't work unless someone is holding the crystal."

"No... not quite." Parfat shook her head in thought. "This experiment proves my theory. This machine is responding to the crystal, since they seem to be on the same wavelength, but in order to control it, we would need someone who is also linked to the Paksis."

Gascogne thought back to what had happened that day when the Paksis had imploded and merged the two ships. "As I recall, Meia, Dita and Jura were near the Paksis and their Dreads were transformed. Would they be able to control it?"

Parfat shook her head again. "No. I already had them down here, and not one of them could make this thing respond to their commands."

It was then that the head supplier put two and two together. "So that leaves only Bart and... Slade."

"Well, you can also scratch Bart off the candidate list since I've had him down here too. The only likely person who could control this new weapon is Slade."

"Slade?"

"That's about the long and short of it. The fact that this thing is responding to _HIS_ crystal makes him the only possibility."

"So the bottom line is that this machine could give us the edge we need, but it can only be used by Slade."

"Mind you, this all just theory. I can't guarantee one hundred percent that it would even work and..."

_**WHABOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!**_

The hanger shuddered and nearly caused the two women to fall to the floor. 

----------

"Enemy attack!"

Magno nodded as she and her bridge crew prepared for the assault. All through the ship, the crew were at their battle stations as the Dread pilots raced to their fighters. In thirty seconds, squadrons of Dreads were taking up positions in front of the Nirvana to confront the enemy. After all of her previous encounters with the enemy, the Dread Leader was confident that she and her comrades would be able to defeat this new threat without the help of males, especially Slade.

The enemy consisted of several dozen of those strange-looking fighters, which the pirates had dubbed as Cube-Types, and one very large machine that was a spherical mass of globes. The alien formation maintained a fixed distance from the pirates, as if they were waiting for the women to make the first move.

On the bridge, Magno ordered Bart to direct the ship into some evasive maneuvers, which the helmsman did readily, (since his specialty was running away). However, for every move the ship made, the large machine and its escort fighters matched, keeping the distance between them constant. After a few more futile attempts, the two forces halted and faced each other off. 

----------

The Reg System...

"They're just standing there." Slade commented as he and the rest of the crew watched on the monitors. _I've got a bad feeling about this._ Normally, he would have just gone out as a Tekkaman and destroyed the enemy, but since he had been reassigned, he couldn't do anything but watch. It wasn't as if he couldn't disobey, but he respected Gascogne and the captain enough.

Then all of a sudden the enemy attacked. 

----------

Meia immediately put her Dread squadron into the fray. The nimble pirate ships darted about, blowing a few of the Cube-Types to pieces while trying to engage the main machine. However, the strange craft was impossibly fast for its size and evaded the first wave. Then the globes on its surface began to rotate and extended large purple tendrils, making its appearance seem like a ...

"Sea urchin? How disgusting!" Jura commented as she put her Dread in a strafing run against it. She was followed by Barnette who launched a barrage of missiles at it. However, the spines began jagged and started rotating even faster. The projectiles were easily deflected and exploded harmlessly away from the main body.

"No good! We can't get close enough to it for a clear shot!" Barnette declared.

Then the spines of the main ship became straight and were suddenly launched like oversized darts. A few of the Dreads were hit and put out of action. Meia thought that this was her chance and ordered her teams to attack. However, the machine simply extended more spines and began spinning them again, evading the next barrage of missiles.

"Damn!" Meia swore as she evaded a few of the Cube Types that were protecting their main system.

"Let's get Mr. Alien out here!" Dita called in through her communicator.

"NO! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT RELYING ON OTHERS? WE DON'T NEED HIS HELP! HE'S A MAN AND THE ENEMY! WE CAN DO THIS ON OUR OWN!"

Though Meia was confident in her own ability and that of the other Dread Pilots, she was letting her pride override her better judgment. 

----------

The Reg System...

Slade shook his head. "Not good."

Gascogne had to agree. With the Cube-Types running interference and the Dreads unable to get clear hits on the large alien craft, it seemed that pirates were fighting a losing battle. She looked at the tactical display and saw that several more of the fighters were put out of action. It wouldn't be long before the enemy would begin their assault on the pirate ship.

"They're not going to last long." Slade said.

"Oh? And what would you suggest?" Gascogne asked.

The Tekkaman nodded and replied. "It's obvious that the enemy knows that the Dread Fighters are very effective with long and medium-range attacks, so they've got those fighters out there to keep them busy. Those spines are also preventing their missiles from getting close. I'd say that the best way to win is to get up close and personal with that thing."

"Getting up close with all those fighters and spines shooting out of it? Sounds pretty dangerous."

It was at that moment that the Reg System began receiving delivery orders as several of the Dread Fighters were running low on ordinance and ammunition. 

----------

The bridge...

"It appears that the enemy has adapted to our current battle tactics." BC remarked with a frown. She too had been watching the tactical display and the Dread teams had been whittled down to half their number. Several of the Cube-Types were getting through the defense lines and attacking the ship itself.

Magno nodded. "Yes. It's as we thought. I thought that those last few battles were too easy. So they were probing for our strengths and weaknesses. They know how we react and they've learned how to counter us. Well then, let's give them something that they don't know about yet." She then contacted the engineering section. "Parfat, is that new weapon ready yet?"

The engineer shook her head as she responded. "Captain, you're not really thinking of using it now, are you?"

It was then that the ship shuddered violently. The large alien craft had broken though the defense lines and was now using its spines to attack the pirate vessel. That one pass alone had caused major structural damage to the port arm of the ship, as the spines raked the hull. Bart let off a scream as he felt pain shoot up his left arm and a large gash appeared. The cybernetic link between himself and the ship was still active.

"We don't really have a choice, Parfat! The Dreads can't hold out for much longer and we don't have any other options. Is it ready or not?"

"It's completed, but it's totally untested!" Parfat responded. "And besides, we don't have a pilot for it!"

At that moment, Gascogne cut into the communications. "Oh yes we do."

"What?" Magno asked.

The head supplier nodded and winked. "Have Parfat load it onto my ship. I have a few deliveries to make anyway. I'm sure that D-Boy will be able to handle it."

"D-Boy?" Both the captain and the engineer said in confusion. 

----------

The Dreki, Gascongne's supply ship, deteched from the main vessel and flew toward the battle zone. It resembled a large ladybug and was heavily armored and had several grappling arms located on its undersides. As four Dreads flew toward it, the arms extended themselves and grabbed hold of them, bringing them closer so that new armaments could be loaded onto the fighters.

On the main bridge of the Dreki, Gascogne sat with Slade and watched the procedures.

"Okay, we're going to get this done in forty seconds, tops. Let's do it all in one go."

Slade nodded as he worked at his console and systematically loaded each Dread with new missiles and weaponry. The head supplier nodded as she watched the Tekkaman's efficiency.

Less than a minute later the fighters were ready for combat again.

"I'm so full!" Dita said happily.

"Give 'em Hell, girls." Gascogne said as they launched.

As Slade watched them go, he shook his head. "Not that I'm saying that being a stagehand isn't important, but we need to change tactics. Unless they come up with something better than wasting their shots on that thing, then it wouldn't matter how many times they reload."

Gascogne nodded. "I couldn't agree more. However, the reloaded Dreads should be able to buy us some time."

"Huh?"

She then gestured to the display. "That's the reason why we brought this."

The Tekkaman noted that one of the cargo bays was still loaded. "Hey, you still got one more delivery."

"That's right." She then handed Slade his crystal back. "That's our latest weapon against the enemy, but only you can use it. Parfat called it a Tekkabot. It's voice-activated so you'd better make your commands loud and clear. Give 'em Hell with it, D-Boy."

"D-Boy?"

"D as in dangerous, since that's what you are when you're out there."

The former Saotome smirked as he began running for the cargo bay. "All right... Ms. Gasco."

"It's Gascogne!" 

----------

Slade stared at the thing. So this was their new weapon?

The machine had formally been one of the Vanguards until it had been transformed by the Paksis. Parfat had modified it and it was now ten feet taller than its counterparts, with added armor and more firepower. He saw that a geometric crystal shape was mounted on the front chest armor and noticed that it was similar to his own crystal. Holding up his possession to it, the machine began to activate and humm with power.

_Okay... let's see if it works._ Slade then voiced out his first command.

"TEKKABOT, POWER ON!"

The machine spoke back in reply as it sensed the link it had with its pilot.

"Affirmative."

The modified Vanguard opened up in front, revealing the cockpit. Slade could feel a kind of pull from it and immediately jumped into it. The hatch closed up as grappling arms maneuvered the machine toward the cargo doors.

On the Dreki's bridge, Gascogne activated the doors to open.

"Initiating launch sequence... Tekkabot away!" 

----------

"What is that?" Jura gasped as she saw something new enter the fray.

"It looks like a Vanguard." Dita remarked.

In her own Dread, Meia gritted her teeth. _No! It can't be him!_

----------

Within the new Tekkabot, Slade found out that he could control it as if it was his own body. He soon got the hang of piloting it. The machine was less maneuverable than his own Tekkaman form, but the heavy armor and massive firepower made up for it. He began directing the Tekkabot to attack the Cube-Types, thereby drawing them off so the Dreads could concentrate on battling the main alien craft. The machine began launching a murderous storm of missiles and blaster fire, mowing the enemy down. As he pressed the attack, he looked through the display monitors and nodded. As the Cube-Types were being dispatched, the Dreads were now concentrating their attacks on the larger machine. The huge sea urchin had to stop attacking the pirate vessel to deal with the fighters.

However, it still proved to be difficult to damage as it continued to evade the females shots.

Slade knew that he had to help them out and destroying the Cube-Types was taking too long. He had to get out there.

"TEKSETTER!" 

----------

To all those who were watching, the Tekkabot suddenly glowed with an emerald light, then suddenly, the top of the machine opened up and something shot out of it.

"Mr. Alien!" Dita cried out happily.

The Tekkaman made a neat flip and landed on the back of the Tekkabot. Slade then realized that he was still linked to his new partner as it responded to his mental commands to charge at the remaining Cube-Types. Bringing out his lance, he began spinning it like a propeller, deflecting enemy fire. Then his shoulder blasters opened up.

"VOLTEKKER!"

A huge beam of emerald-white light was released, atomizing most of the enemy fighters. He then directed the Tekkabot to charge at the main alien craft.

The giant sea urchin evaded its Dread pursuers and focused its attention toward its newest adversary.

Slade leapt off the Tekkabot and activated his alternate form.

_TEKKAMAN BATTLE-MODE!_

However, to everyone else's surprise, the Tekkabot acknowledged its master.

"Affirmative"

It also began transforming. New wing projections emerged from its back as its arms swung into its body. The legs produced a new type of thruster units and Slade found himself pulled toward the machine again. When the Tekkaman landed on the Tekkabot's back again, the two began to produce a combined aura which turned them into a huge comet, that streaked across space and headed toward the enemy. All of the remaining Cube-Types were blown away as Tekkaman and Tekkabot hurtled by, leaving energy shockwaves that reduced them to useless scrap. 

----------

"That's some new weapon, Parfat." Gascogne commented through the communicator.

"But I didn't build it to do that!" Parfat said as she watched in shock. 

----------

The sea urchin launched a barrage of its spines at the Tekkaman, but the projectiles disintegrated as soon as they made contact with his combined aura. It seemed as if the machine would be destroyed as soon it collided with him. However, at the last moment, the craft severed to the right, causing Slade to harmlessly pass by.

_Damn, that thing's faster than me!_

Meia saw this as an opportunity and ordered her team to attack while the alien machine was distracted. However, that was when it grew more spines and launched them, causing the Dreads to scatter once again.

As Slade turned about to make another pass at his foe, Dita's fighter flashed onto the scene.

"Mr. Alien! Let's combine!"

The gigantic sea urchin had other ideas though as it launched another barrage. Meia's Dread flew in to intercept.

"Dita, watch out!"

Meia's Dread took the hits and was sent speeding out of control. At the same time, Slade was also knocked off his perch on the Tekkabot and sent flying. The Tekkabot immediately became disoriented without its pilot and was nothing more than a floating, technological mass.

As if by fate or pure luck, both Dread and Tekkaman came close enough to each other as both individuals voiced out the same desire to overcome the enemy.

"There's no way..." Meia shouted out.

"... I'm going to let this thing beat me!" Slade declared.

It was then that they both came together and became a new force. Meia's Dread immediately swallowed up the Tekkaman and began shifting its form. The entire craft flipped itself over and extended twin appendages that resembled the talons of a predatory bird. The front part of the fuselage extended itself even further, forming a serpentine head with tusks. The new mecha hovered in space, ready for combat. 

----------

"What?!" Dita was shocked.

"Did you see that?" Barnette exclaimed.

"It's SO cool!" Jura declared as she saw that Meia's fighter was now some kind of Dragon-type mecha.

On the pirate vessel, the bridge crew was also in awe.

"That guy sure has a lot of tricks up his sleeve." Bart said. 

----------

Inside the cockpit of the new fighter...

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Meia glared at Slade as she found herself in a very undignified position. The cockpit of the new Tekkadread had her sitting in a kind of a reclining position, with Slade in front of her in a hunched-over position.

"WHAT...?!" Slade once again found himself in his regular clothes and in a very embarrassing situation.

"I NEVER ASKED FOR YOUR HELP, SO GET OUT OF HERE!"

"I DIDN'T WANT TO BE HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE SO..."

At that moment that the Tekkadread shuddered as it was hit by the enemy craft. Slade immediately put his anger aside and grabbed at a set of controls in front of him. The Tekkadread came alive with his touch as he glared over his shoulders to his unexpected co-pilot.

"We don't have time to argue, so work with me or we won't be able to chew each other out later!"

Meia gritted her teeth, but nodded in agreement as she began operating the foot pedals and the controls on either side of her chair. 

----------

The Tekkadread started darting about after the enemy with an acceleration that made the other Dread fighters look like slugs.

"That acceleration is impossible!" Barnette declared.

"Meia is _SO_ lucky!" Jura said as she watched the machine wistfully. 

----------

Tekkadread Meia, (as it would later be called), ran circles around its foe and the giant sea urchin launched every spine it had against its elusive opponent. However, the machine totally missed its target as it flashed out of sight and reappeared behind it.

Inside the cockpit of the Tekkadread, both Slade and Meia voiced out their anticipation.

"This is exactly..." Slade said.

"... what I've been waiting for!" Meia declared.

It was then that Slade's aura flared and was fed into the Tekkadread's main systems. The entire craft became surrounded with power as it flashed forward like a comet.

"DRAGON... VOLTEKKER!"

The enemy craft was pierced though its center as the Tekkadread rammed clear through it. A moment later, it exploded into fragments and smaller spheres were scattered all. The battle was over.

Inside the now dormant Tekkadread, Meia and Slade were completely exhausted.

"Whew! That was... a total mess." Slade said as he leaned against the console.

"I... never thought we'd agree on the same thing." Meia comented, then added. "Now do you see? You can't win every battle with just that armor of yours."

Slade had to agree, though he also said, "And I suppose you were doing any better with just your Dreads?"

Meia didn't answer, since Slade did raise a point. 

----------

"That's so unfair!" Dita pouted as she and the rest of the Dread Teams headed back to their ship. "Mr. Alien was only supposed to combine with me!"

In her own fighter, Jura began to consider a few things. "Hey... that could mean that I could combine to form something elegant too..." 

----------

Later...

"The ship's name? You want me to decide?" Magno asked.

Parfat nodded as Pyoro began displaying the suggestions on his monitor. "All the crew contributed and we want you to pick one."

"You sure you don't mind?"

"Just pick out a real cool one!"

A name flashed by and Magno considered it. "Hmmm... the Nirvana. Not a bad suggestion. Who came up with that one?"

"It was the commander's idea." Pyoro replied.

"Fine then. From now on, this ship will be called the Nirvana."

In the engineering room, Parfat lowered her head in defeat. "I knew it." After turning off communications, she looked back to the Tekkabot, which was undergoing repairs and being rearmed. Beside her was Gascogne.

"I've got to admit, for a trial by fire, this thing didn't do too badly."

Parfat nodded, though she was still a bit puzzled. "I can see that a few improvements can be made, though I never knew this thing could transform. I didn't even consider the possibility that it would develop an artificial intelligence like Pyoro. Do you think that it had something to do with the Paksis or its contact with Slade?"

"Could be both. By the way, what are you going to call this new Vanguard?"

Parfat looked back up to her creation, then snapped her fingers in inspiration. "I'll use the name that I suggested in our contest. I wanted the ship's name to be Pegasus."

"Pegasus?"

"Yeah. In some old myths that I read, Pegasus was a horse with wings. Slade is the only one who can 'ride' it, so it seems fitting, don't you think? For short, I'll call it Pegas!" She called up to the huge machine. "You hear that? From now on, your name will be Pegas!"

The machine's head cocked to one side, as if in thought, then nodded. "I am Pegas!" 

----------

Later...

"Wow! This stuff sure beats the pellets I've been eating." Slade said as he sampled the food that Dita had cooked for him. He had used up a lot energy during the battle and he gobbled up the food within seconds.

"Mr. Alien, will you promise that you'll only combine with me?" Dita asked while giving him the dreaded Sad Puppy Dog eyes.

"Will you stop calling me Mr. Alien?" Slade was getting very annoyed by the reference though he welcomed Dita's company. She was only the few people who didn't think he was some kind of monster. 

----------

The Register, two days later...

"So Ms. Gasco, I take it that... man won't be working here any more?" Ukyo asked, with a bit of hope in her voice.

"It's Gascogne." The head supplier reminded her. "And in answer to your question, no I don't think so. Apparently, he wasn't meant to be part of the stagehands." She let off a small sigh. Though he was a man, Gascogne had to admit that he was one of the most efficient and hard-working members of her staff.

It was at that moment that the main door to the Register opened up. The entire staff turned to see who it was and gasped.

It was Slade, but he was now dressed in a masculine version of the standard uniform. The skirt and blouse had been altered into a white tuxedo with red lapels on the vest with pink highlights. He wore a fashionable black bow tie and the cuffs on his sleeves were elaborately decorated. He looked like a high-class waiter from a very elegant restaurant and the new attire made him appear very handsome. Many of the girls didn't know what to make of the strange feelings they were experiencing at that moment.

The staff and their supervisor continued to gape in disbelief as Slade casually strolled over to Gascogne. He gave her a curt nod of his head and noted her surprise. "Miss Gasco. Have you already forgotten?" He flashed her a grin. "Smile, smile."

Gascogne found her voice as she shook herself back to reality. "D-Boy... I... thought that you..."

"Quit? Not really. I figured that when I'm not in combat, I can pull my weight on this ship by helping you out here." He then gestured to his wardrobe. "Though, I hope you don't mind my alterations to the uniform. My legs just don't look good in a skirt."

Gascogne could only chuckle as she nodded. "Just so long as you keep it clean. Oh and by the way, it's not Gasco, it's Gascogne."

"Certainly, and remember, it's Slade, not D-Boy."

The two gazed at each other for a very long time as the rest of the Register waited. Finally, the head supplier nodded.

"Welcome back... D-Boy."

"Good to be back... Miss Gasco."

The two then burst into peals of laughter. 

----------

On the bridge...

"So those spheres will mask the two message pods?" Magno asked.

Parfat nodded. "They've been coded with the enemy's recognition frequencies so they won't be destroyed.

"Very well then. Launch the pods."

The twin canisters were then sent on their merry, but the crew still had their doubts.

"Even if they receive our message, there's no guarantee that anyone will listen." Parfat remarked.

"Wish for it Parfat." BC said. "That's all we can do."

To be continued...

Author's notes

That takes care of the revisions and the fourth chapter to this story. After watching the entire Tekkaman Blade series, I decided to use the Japanese terms except for the name of Slade. As for Vandread, it will mostly be using the English references. In any case, I hope you liked my inclusion of Pegas and the introduction of one of Ukyo's descendants. There will be more changes and surprise in store, so stay tuned!


	6. Chapter 5: Vanguard Mission

**Tekkadread**

Disclaimer: (Recording) Greetings Mr. Animeaddiction. Your mission today, should you choose to accept it, is to write the next chapter of this fanfic to entertain the fans. Should the original creators of the characters in this story, approach you with legal technicalities, we shall disavow any knowledge of your existence and you will be on your own to disclaim ownership of said characters. This message will self-destruct in five seconds.

: Thoughts

**Chapter 5**

**Vanguard Mission**

The pirate vessel, now christened the Nirvana, was in orbit around a desert planet. On the bridge, the first officer and the captain watched the main monitor.

"This planet seems to be dead." Buzom said. "Although we are getting some energy readings from the surface. The readings also show that there are several structures that appear to be man-made. I think we should check this out."

Magno considered it. "Hmmm... our kitchen is running low on supplies. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to do this like old-fashioned pirates."

"Thank you captain." BC then turned to the bridge crew. "Begin monitoring the surface of the planet and atmospheric conditions. Let's determine the best time to send down a landing party."

"Roger." 

----------

Meanwhile, in the hanger where the three transformed Dreads were being stored, Slade was working on Pegas. The place was also where the leftover Vanguards were kept, ever since the male and female ships had merged into the Nirvana. At present, with the exception of the Tekkabot, the male mecha had been left in a state of disrepair and neglect. Parfat's teams had cannibalized a few of them for replacement components and raw materials.

Since the Tekkabot was a transformed Vanguard, Slade had no problems with maintaining and repairing his new partner, since the Tekkaman did have considerable expertise on such mecha during his stay on Tarak. As of now, he was busy making modifications to the control systems so Pegas would have better response time. With the machine having an artificial intelligence, it made decent company and didn't give any back talk like Pyoro.

"Pegas, would you please move your right arm? I need to get at that panel."

"Roger." The huge machine complied.

"They really work people hard around here, don't they?" Slade remarked as he began adjusting the servos. Between his duties with Gascogne's Register and as part of the Dread fighter support, the former son of Genma Soatome had very little free time. What leisure time that he did have was spent either working with Pegas or training in the gym.

As the voyage continued, the martial artist and Tekkaman wondered just what he was going to do, once Mejele and Tarak were warned and the threat was dealt with. He supposed that he'd just move on again. However, being with the females had given him a sense of belonging that he had never felt before. Granted, the majority of the all-woman personnel still treated him like a barely tolerated outsider, especially girls like Ukyo and Paiway, but a few had accepted him without any argument. People like the captain, Gascogne, and though he hated to admit it... Dita as well. In a way, the crew of the Nirvana was the closest thing he ever had to a family.

On that train of thought, Slade often wondered just where he had come from. The vague images that he saw in his dreams seemed to indicate that he had a mother and father. However, he felt a certain... anger whenever he thought about the bald man in white, though for the life of him, he couldn't remember why.

Slade was so engrossed in his thoughts that he failed to sense the presence of another. Dita smiled as she went up the boarding ramp and gave Mr. Alien a wink and blew him a kiss. Slade turned suddenly, accidentally tripped over a wrench and fell flat on his back. He winced at being caught off-guard and made a note to step up in his martial arts training. He then looked up and his cheeks reddened as he found himself staring up Dita's skirt.

_WHOA!_ He quickly averted his eyes.

Dita, being the naive girl that she was, didn't understand Slade's reaction as she simply stood there and asked, "Are you okay?"

He instantly got to his feet and backed away from her. Though Slade was familiar with the 'birds and the bees,' and all the mechanics involved, he was still very inexperienced with male-female relationships. Having no real contact with females in his first life wasn't saying much either. And what he saw under her skirt...

"I'm fine!" He blurted out. "I... guess I haven't eating well lately... that's all."

The Tekkaman quickly closed up the Tekkabot's panel, swept up his toolbox and was gone in a flash, leaving a confused Dread pilot. 

----------

The sick bay...

"Your pulse rate seems to be somewhat elevated from normal and you seem a bit... agitated." Deuro remarked as he placed a series of cardiopulmonary sensors on various locations on Slade's face and chest. The Tekkaman was dressed only in his boxers as he sat on the examination table. The physician then began a systematic, physical examination of his patient with practiced ease. However, when his hands came close to Slade's privates, his patient scrambled back a bit.

"Keep those hands to yourself!"

"I'm just examining you." The doctor said. "You seem very tense."

Slade sighed as he realized that Deuro was only doing his job. "Well, I've been really busy lately. Working and fighting alongside the women takes a lot out of me. Somebody's got to protect them."

"So you're fighting to protect the females?" Duero asked with a bit of a knowing smile.

"Well, somebody's got to... I mean, I'm... stronger then they are... and they're... weak..." Slade paused as he considered his words. Just where did that 'females were weak' comment came from? He had just said it without thinking, as if by reflex. "Well... I'm not saying that they can't fight, 'cause they can and... aw, Hell! I don't know what I'm saying."

"Let's stop talking about the females." Duero suggested. At that moment, Paiway came up and pointed to the machine that Slade was hooked up to.

"What's this thing? A video game?"

"You've never seen a pulse monitor?" The physician was surprised to learn that the ship's nurse trainee was unfamiliar with basic medical equipment.

"What's it to you if I haven't?" The twelve-year-old gave Duero a kind of pout. "Anyway, all health problems can be fixed in the Jacuzzi."

"Jacuzzi?" 

----------

In the recreation center...

"Ah, space battle always damages my hair." Jura said as she lounged on a salon chair with a towel wrapped around her head. She was naked save for another towel wrapped about her body. Several attendants were massaging her legs and giving her a manicure and pedicure.

"Don't worry Jura. We're here to revive your beauty." One of the attendants assured.

"I appreciate it. I don't feel like going into battle unless my hair is set just right."

Pyoro floated beside her with a puzzled expression. "Sometimes humans don't make any sense."

Jura then glanced over to the hot tub and saw Meia soaking in it. "Meia, are you trying to lose even more weight?"

"Excess body fat gets in the way of combat." The blue-haired girl replied simply.

"But you won't have any breasts left." Jura pointed out.

"Heh. Don't worry about me." Meia was not as unconcerned with maintaining her feminine appearance as her comrade was. 

----------

Meanwhile, at the ship's mess hall, Barnette was trying to decide what to eat as plates of food moved along a conveyor belt. She then reached for a plate that marked with tag of more than 800 calories. The platter was suddenly snatched away before she could touch it. She angrily looked over and saw Dita holding up her intended lunch.

"I think I'll take this one!"

"Dita! That's loaded with calories!"

"That's okay, Barnette. He said he wasn't eating right."

The Dread pilot wondered whom she was talking about. 

----------

BC nodded as she was given the latest information on the planet's surface. Several heat sources had been detected, though a sandstorm was preventing confirmation. However, she decided that it would be best to prepare for an excursion. Since the Dreads were not suited for atmospheric flight or terrestrial exploration, that left only one option...

"Attention all crew. We're going to investigate a planet. All pilots should immediately begin simulation training aboard the Vanguards." 

----------

"Say what? The women are actually going to try using those Van-Types?" Slade took on a thoughtful look. _This should be interesting._

----------

The hanger...

"Geez. I know that it's impossible to get to the surface with the Dreads. Even so, that doesn't mean that I have to LIKE using a man's Vanguard." Barnette gazed upon the male mecha with extreme distaste.

After months of being ignored, the machines were now being repaired and serviced by Parfat's engineering crews. Several of them were painted in outrageous patterns and colors. One particular pilot was looking at her scarlet pink mecha with eagerness.

"I don't really care if it's a Vanguard or not." Jura said. "Just so long as I can combine into something beautiful!" She knew that in a mission such as this, Slade would most definitely be included. He was the only one with any experience in piloting a Vanguard (ie: Pegas), and his Tekkaman form would have no problems with adapting to ground-based missions. That meant that she would have an excellent opportunity to combine with him.

At this time, Bart had decided to boast. "Hey there! If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me! During my long career in the military academy, I endured hundreds of training missions. You could say..."

_**KLONK!**_

Bart was floored when an anti-gravity lift came down on top of him. The tech who was on it looked down and scolded, "What are you doing standing under the lift? We're busy so try to stay out of the way!"

"Okay." Bart moaned.

Slade came into the hanger and winced as he saw the brightly decorated mecha. It was apparent that the females weren't taking this very seriously. He then looked over to where Pegas was and gasped. Dita was standing a boarding ramp and brandishing a spray painter.

"HOLD ON! WAIT A SECOND!" Slade began racing toward his mecha. The thought of having his partner colored in kawaii colors made him feel very uncomfortable.

On the ramp, Dita aimed her instrument at the Tekkabot. "I'll make you clean and pretty, Pegas! I'm sure that Mr. Alien will like it!"

The Tekkabot cocked its head in puzzlement, then shrugged. As long as it did its function, it didn't matter what color it was. "Proceed."

Just as she fired off a stream of pink paint, Slade got between her and the Tekkabot. As a result, he was doused in the liquid.

"Aaaaaauuuggggghhh!!"

"WOW! A PINK ALIEN! HOW CUTE!"

"She's nuts!" 

----------

A while later...

Slade, Duero and Bart watched from the control center, as Dita, Barnette and Jura trained in the Vanguard simulators. Slade had cleaned off the paint and was currently watching the performance of the Vanguard trainees. It was soon apparent that the female pilots were unused to controlling the mecha in hand-to-hand, close-quarters combat. The women had been trained for long-distance assault and surprise attacks with Dreads. They specialized in maneuverability and needed a lot of space to operate. The Van-Type mecha were clearly more suited for male pilots, confined areas and the innate fighting instincts. Of course, there were exceptions. Barnette, who was totally against using the Bangattas, quickly mastered the machine. Go figure.

As the virtual Vanguards tripped and fell over each other, Jura became disgusted. "I've had enough! Why can't this machine move with more elegance? I'm out of here!" She quickly exited the simulator in a huff.

At the control center, Duero nodded as he watched the pulse monitors on each of the simulators.

"It looks like I'll be needed on the bridge." He then saw that one of simulators was relaying that its pilot was feeling agitation and extreme stress. Apparently, the best Dread pilot was the worst Vanguard combatant. 

----------

- Meia slammed a fist on the simulator's side as it declared that the trial mission was a complete failure, and that she had been killed. Her breathing had become labored and shallow as she sat in the confined area of the cockpit. Sweat was beading off her forehead, as she became even angrier after her poor performance. Then her main monitor lit up.

"Are there medical overrides on Mejele?"

"What?"

Duero's expression became serious. "On Tarak, doctors are given the authority to ground pilots when they experience psychological stress, which can hamper their performance. Do you want that to happen?"

"Of course not!" Meia shot back.

"Then I suggest that you switch your monitor to all-fields. That should lessen the strain on your body."

"Keep your advice to yourself! I don't need any help, especially from a man! I'll be just fine, thank you very much!" 

----------

"Hmmm... how to use the ten-in-one knife shield... following the will of pilot... ah, simultaneously with the electron-pulse beam! I can do this!" Bart smiled as he looked up from the Bangatta instruction manual he had been reading.

"Whatever." Slade said, as he was about to get up from the chair he was sitting in. However, just as he turned to rise from his seat, his view was blocked by a very ample amount of cleavage. He felt very uncomfortable as he looked up.

"Hello there." Jura said and she smiled down at the Tekkaman. "In the next battle, you will be combining with me! I hope you'll keep that in mind."

After she and Barnette left the training center, Slade squirmed a bit in his seat and swallowed hard. When she said the word combine, his thoughts were not about merging mecha. 

----------

Duero was getting more worried. After reading the data on all the Vanguard trainees, it was Meia's readouts that had the most disturbing results. She had exhibited signs of agitation, high stress levels and most significantly... fear. There was no mistake about it. He had tried to talk to her about it, but the Dread leader had maintained that it was just fatigue and continued to ignore any advice or offers for help.

The good doctor had thought about exercising his right to declare Meia unfit for Vanguard duty. However, since he was on a female-dominated ship, his suggestions and opinions may not carry as much weight as they would on a ship from Tarak. Despite the fact that he was the head physician and surgeon on the Nirvana, (albeit he was the _ONLY_ physician and surgeon), he was still considered by most of the crew as an unwanted, but necessary male crewmember.

In the end, he decided to hold his peace. 

----------

A little later...

Slade munched down on the bento that Dita had given to him as they both sat in the Bio-Park of the ship. The young Dread pilot continued to smile happily as she gazed her Mr. Alien.

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

"It just makes me so happy to watch you." Dita replied cheerfully.

Slade gave Dita a funny look, then went back to wolfing down the food. He was going to need all the energy he could get for the next time he transformed. Though he could have simply eaten more of those God-awful pellet rations, he was more than eager to devour real food whenever possible. He had often wondered if this kind of behavior was either instinctual or had been ingrained into him.

Nearby, a certain someone began clicking pictures from behind a tree.

"Pai check!" 

----------

We now join Paiway as she is speaking to Jura. The voluptuous Dread pilot was currently taking a cshower.

"... and there they were, having a nice little picnic. The thing is, he seemed completely under Dita's control. And it was all because of one little boxed lunch."

Jura smiled after hearing Paiway's report. "Hmmm, I see." 

----------

The kitchen...

"That's why I'm doing all this cooking?!" Barnette was quite irritated to learn why her partner Jura had requested that she cook up one of her special meals.

"It's so I can combine." Jura explained as she admired the polish on her nails. "You do love me when I'm beautiful, don't you Barnette?"

The Dread pilot let off an irritated sigh, then smiled evilly when she spotted a bottle of hot sauce. Without Jura noticing it, she began sprinkling a generous portion of the bottle's contents then added a few other choice spices to the filet mignon she was preparing.

"All right, I'm done."

"That's why I love you, Barnette. Let's go find him. I can't wait to see the look on his face!"

_Neither can I._ Barnette thought. 

----------

"So what do you want?" Slade asked with a bit of irritation as he was being dragged toward a table. He could have easily resisted, but had decided that it wouldn't hurt to go with the two Dread pilots.

Slade found himself being directed toward a table with several platters that were covered. As soon as he sat down, Jura lifted the lid and the aroma of food instantly caught the Tekkaman's attention.

"Whoa."

Jura smiled sweetly. "If you agree to combine with me, then you can eat it."

Slade sighed. There had to be a catch. "Fine then, I don't want it."

"Too bad, it's to die for." Jura shrugged as she waited for his response to the delicious smell from the filet mignon.

Slade's stomach rumbled a bit. Even though he had just eaten, he was still a bit hungry. His Tekkaman powers always required large amounts of food energy and it wouldn't hurt to stock up on extra reserves for the impending mission.

"Well... maybe just a little taste... but I'm not saying I'll do it."

Jura nodded as she nodded for him to sample the food. After that first bite, Slade would be twisted around her finger. Behind them, Barnette grinned. After one bite of that doctored food, Slade's taste buds would be totally obliterated.

However, what Barnette didn't know was that Slade was already aware that the food had been given a heavy dose of hot sauce and spices. His sense of smell was a bit more acute due to his Tekkaman abilities. He also had a way of countering the effects of those spices. Just as he placed a small piece of the steak into his mouth, he focused his ki into his tongue to withstand the spicy food. As a result, he felt no pain other than a slight tingle to his taste buds.

"Well?" Jura asked. "How is it?"

Slade shrugged as he chewed the morsel thoughtfully then swallowed. "Not bad. It's... a little bland though. Do you got any hot sauce?"

Barnette's jaw dropped when she heard this. "_WHAT_?!"

Slade shrugged again. "I like my food a bit spicy."

"Give me that!" Barnette grabbed the fork out of his hand and used it to pick up another piece of the steak. She then shoved it into her mouth and that's when she felt her tongue ignited with pain. "WAUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!! WATER! WATER!"

Slade snickered a bit as he and Jura watched Barnette run off with her mouth on fire. Jura looked back to Slade in confusion as the Tekkaman shrugged for the third time.

"Was it something I said?"

It was then that BC's voice was heard on the intercom, stating that it was time for the Vanguard trainees and Slade to prepare to descend toward the planet.

"Oh well." Slade said as he stood up and left the rest of the meal. "No time to eat now." He then ran off toward the hanger where Pegas awaited him.

"Hey! Don't forget that you're supposed to combine with me!" Jura called after him.

"I didn't say that I would!" Slade called back. 

----------

A few minutes later, the Tekkabot launched from the Nirvana and sped toward the planet's atmosphere. It was soon followed by the special drop-ship, which had three of the Vanguards mounted on it. Inside the mecha were Dita, Jura and Barnette, (who happened to be sporting a pair of very puffy lips). At the helm of the drop-ship was Jura. Her gaze remained focused on Pegas.

"I won't let you get away that easily." Jura said fondly as she directed the ship to follow Slade's trajectory.

"Stop it! The only one who's going to combine with Mr. Alien is me!" Dita said over the com systems.

"You keep out of this!" Jura shot back.

Barnette shook her head. "Hopeless." She then rubbed her sore lips and wondered just how Slade could have withstood that food.

The Tekkabot and drop-ship made fiery reentry paths though the planet's atmosphere. As soon as they had passed through the clouds and cooled down, the drop-ship broke apart, letting its cargo experience freefall for a few seconds. The Vanguards deployed umbrella-like devices to float down toward the planet's surface. Pegas simply righted itself and fired its control thrusters to slow its own descent. Since it was larger than its counterparts, it was deemed too heavy for the umbrellas to work, so Parfat had installed braking thrusters. Its heavy armor plating also protected it from the heat of reentry.

Inside the Tekkabot, Slade watched the ground approach through the main monitor. He had decided to hold off transforming until he needed to, thereby conserving energy. Pegas caused a small sandstorm to be stirred up when it landed.

The other mecha soon touched down on the desert world and began looking about. They had landed amid several artificial structures, which resembled the ruins of some forgotten city. 

----------

On board the Nirvana...

"I'm too late!" Meia said as she ran toward her awaiting Vanguard. Pyoro floated up the girl.

"You're pushing yourself too hard. Don't you think that they will be fine? I'm sure they can get by without you."

"No!" Meia said while shaking her head. "I'm supposed to be responsible for all of them!" _Even... Slade._ She added silently.

"But the drop-ship was only meant to be used one-way. There aren't any others." The robot pointed out.

"What?" 

----------

On the planet's surface, the Vanguard team surveyed the seemingly desolate area. Placed off to one side were the umbrella-like devices, which also functioned like booster rockets for getting back up into orbit, once the mission was finished.

"Well this place is totally deserted. Nothing to get excited about." Jura commented.

Barnette agreed. "There was no need for Meia to come with us."

"Wow. Look at all this sand." Dita remarked.

Slade was unimpressed by the landscape. As he directed Pegas to follow the others, he noted that it was bit sluggish.

_I guess this is Pegas' first time on land._ At that moment, the sensors registered a tap on the Tekkabot's shoulders. Slade winced as he saw who it was through monitors.

Jura smiled seductively in her Vanguard. "Well now, shall we get on with it, hmmm?"

"You've GOT to be kidding! You want to do it now?!"

Pegas tilted its head in confusion. "Inquiry not understood. Please specify what 'it' means."

Dita's Vanguard came stomping up to them. "Hold on! The only one Mr. Alien is going to do it with is ME!"

"You keep out of this!" Jura shot back.

Slade hated to be treated like some sort of possession and decided to end the argument. "Will you both just knock it off?!"

With that, he fired up the Tekkabot's thrusters and took off. However, just as he gained about a hundred meters in altitude, a sensor caught the movement and shot out a beam of red light, which caught the Tekkabot in the back. Several dozen more devices let loose crisscrossing beams that formed a kind of lattice above the area where the Vanguards were, effectively cutting them off from the rest of the planet.

"What the Hell?!" Slade found that his control console was starting to short out as he and Pegas plummeted back down. 

----------

High above, a lone Vanguard came down through the clouds. Inside it, Meia piloted the mecha toward the landing coordinates of the other machines. She tried several times to raise her comrades on the communicator, but with no luck. As she headed down toward the surface, her machine began to shudder as a sandstorm suddenly appeared and caused intense turbulence. 

----------

On the bridge of the Nirvana, Duero became very concerned. The pulse monitors for each Vanguard pilot were showing elevated heart rates and increased respiration. When he saw Meia's readouts, he knew that they were in serious trouble.

"This is not good. Their pulse rates are increasing and they are showing signs of fear and disorientation. Something bad is happening down there."

BC immediately raised the Vanguards, but the communications links had become unstable. Their responses to her hails became fuzzy.

"We're... (squark)... trapped... (bzzzt!)..."

"Ahhhhhhh! Look... out!"

"The sand... is... (crackle)... attack..."

Buzom's expression turned to confusion. "The sand is attacking?" 

----------

Dita became a little more than shocked to see the sand start to move about on its own. As the sandstorm whipped about them, particles started to adhere to the surface of the Vanguards and spread across them like blobs. Servos became locked and other moving parts became jammed, making their movements even more sluggish.

"This sand is a little too freaky!"

Inside Pegas, Slade was getting angry. The sand was trying to pin down his robotic partner and it wouldn't be long before the Tekkabot was immobilized. He had to do something.

"_TEKSETTER!_"

Luckily, the top of the Tekkabot was still uncovered and the hatch opened up for the Tekkaman to burst out. As he landed beside his now inert partner, he gazed at it while trying to think of the best way to free Pegas. At that moment, Jura's mecha came up.

"Leave this to me!"

Activating the vent exhaust located on the front of her Vanguard, Jura directed the airflow to blow off the sand that was coating the Tekkabot. A minute later, the machine got back onto its feet.

"Not bad. Not bad at all." Slade admitted.

Jura smiled as she said, "And for my reward, you know what I want."

The Tekkaman gave her a disgruntled snort. "Are you _STILL_ hung up with that combining stuff?! Haven't you figured out yet that I can only combine with your Dreads? How the heck am I supposed to combine my armor with a Vanguard?"

The blonde's face then became both shocked and disappointed. "You're kidding! If I had known that, I never would have trained for this mission!" 

----------

Meia's mecha landed hard on the planet's surface. Her cockpit became dark as several systems went offline. Due to the storm, she had landed several hundred meters from where the others were. Her breathing became rapid and she was taking short gasps. Her heart thundered in her chest. Her forehead became sweaty and her eyes widened in terror.

She then heard Duero's voice on the comlink.

"Meia! Meia! Do you copy? Turn on your main monitor! Look as far away as you can!"

The Dread leader reached out with a trembling hand and pressed a switch. "He... should mind his own... damned business!"

As the monitor lit up and showed the sandy landscape, her breathing became calmer and her heart rate dropped a bit. However, her relief would prove to be temporary as she caught movement in the distance. Something was heading right for her.

"What's that?" 

----------

The Nirvana...

"Meia's mecha had disappeared from the sensors!"

BC acknowledged the bridge crewmember and tried to raise the others. "Barnette! Jura! Dita! Slade! Do you copy? Meia has disappeared! You have to find her!" 

----------

The landing group had received the message. However, the Vanguards and Tekkaman were too busy to respond. Just after they had freed themselves from the sand particles, a new threat suddenly appeared. Several mounds of the sand on the ground began to rise and take the form of the Vanguards. The Dread pilots were now putting their newly learned combat skills to the test. However, like the male trainees of the Ikazuchi, they too were inexperienced in such maneuvers, and were slowly being pushed back.

Dita struggled as on of the sand-shapes grappled with her mecha. She saw that the systems were being drained of their power.

"The sand is copying the Vanguard's systems! It's... almost as if the blood was being drained out of us!"

Fortunately for the group, Slade was quite familiar with such situations and promptly took charge. An instant after Dita engaged in combat, the sand-monster was slashed in half from behind by Slade's lance. Using his superior speed and maneuverability, the Tekkaman began flashing in and out of the groups of Sand-Vanguards and took out a few more, giving the Vanguards more room to fight. Patching into their communications arrays, he began giving orders.

"Don't let these things separate you! Watch each other's backs!"

Barnette growled. "I don't take orders from a man!"

However, Slade ignored her comments, as this was not the time for arguing. He ordered Pegas to take to the air and start strafing the enemy. The Tekkabot took off and began raining down cannon fire and laser bolts, causing the sand-creatures to scatter. As the enemy was forced back, Slade pressed the attack, while motioning for the others to follow behind him. He couldn't use his Voltekker, since his comrades were too close and would be caught in the blast. They would have to take out their enemies one by one. Then again, close-quarters combat was something that he excelled in.

"I'm right behind you Mr. Alien!"

"What are you doing?!" Barnette shouted out.

Dita replied while fighting off another foe. "Mr. Alien is trying to help us!"

Barnette gritted her teeth as she saw Jura's Vanguard following Dita's. The blonde pilot added. "She's got a point, Barnette! We have to do this and Slade seems to be our best bet to getting out of here alive, so come on!"

The Dread pilot snarled a bit, but finally relented and followed after her comrades.

After a few minutes of nonstop fighting, the tide slowly began to turn. As the sand-Vanguards lessened in number, Slade raised Barnette. "Barnette, we can handle the rest here. Go look for Meia!"

"I told you that I don't take orders from a man!"

"Either take orders from a man, or lose your team leader! Your choice!"

Jura's friend growled, but realized that Slade was right. She then went off in search of her comrade. 

----------

"Run a full analysis!" BC commanded as communications with the landing party was reestablished.

Ezra nodded as she worked her console. She then brought the results on the monitor. "There seems to be some kind of device hidden underground that's controlling the sand."

"So this was some kind of trap left by our enemies, eh?" Magno commented as her eyes narrowed. "And with that force-field in place, our Vanguards are cut off. What's happening down there now?"

BC looked at the readouts and became a bit surprised. "The Vanguards are engaged in some kind of counter-attack."

"Who's leading them? Is it Barnette?" The captain had been informed that Barnette was the most proficient Vanguard pilot out of the four trainees.

BC shook her head. "No. She's gone to look for Meia. The one who's leading the attack is... Slade." 

----------

Meia shivered in fear as her Vanguard lay on its back, as the living sand was swallowing it up. As the strange substance coated her mecha and rendered her helpless, her body began to lock up and her breathing rate became shallower. Her heart rate became like a hummingbird's and she couldn't seem to calm down.

"W-W-What should I do? I'm... so scared..."

Just as her machine was completely engulfed by the sand, Barnette's mecha came onto the scene.

"MEIA!"

Barnette engaged the shovel extension of her Vanguard and tried to remove the sand that had trapped Meia. She couldn't use the vent exhaust as it was too clogged from the sandstorm and had suffered some damage during the battle.

Suddenly, Meia's sand-coated mecha got up and knocked Barnette's machine away. It rocketed upward to touch the force-field high above. This caused a loud alarm to ring out as several structures lit up and began pulsating. 

----------

"What's going on?" Magno demanded.

Ezra gasped as she read the readouts from the sudden power buildup from the planet's surface. "Some kind of auto-destruct sequence has been activated!"

Another crewmember confirmed this. "A countdown has begun... three hundred seconds to detonation!"

"Nirvana to landing party! Get out of there now!" BC cried out. 

----------

"We'd love to do that, but we're a little busy down here!" Slade said as he slashed another of the sand-creatures apart. He then turned and saw another coming at him. However, just as he was about to attack, Barnette's mecha came up from behind it.

"NO! STOP! THAT THING IS MEIA! THE SAND GOT HER AND IT'S CONTROLLING HER!"

Inside the mecha, the Dread Leader was in a state of catatonic shock and didn't seem to notice anything at all. She was suddenly jolted back to reality as her Vanguard was suddenly knocked onto its back. She then heard Slade's voice over the communicator.

"What the Hell are you doing in there? We don't have time for this!" The Tekkaman stood on the downed machine, and began using his lance to try and get the sand off. However, every time he cleared an area, the sand would simply cover it up.

"F-F-Forget about me... save yourselves..." Meia said weakly.

"Don't be so selfish!" Slade shot back. "Your reason for living may be to give me Hell, but I'd feel real crappy if I let you die in front my eyes!"

_Damn! This isn't working!_ Slade couldn't ask Jura to blow off the sand as she had done before with Pegas. By this time, the sand had coated Meia's Vanguard in a layer that was too dense for such measures. He needed another way. It was then that he noticed a kind of storage tank nearby. His armor's sensors picked up a kind of gas that was at least sixty degrees colder than the outside temperature. 

----------

"One hundred and fifty seconds until detonation."

"Did you hear that?" Buzom cried out on the communicator. 

----------

"TELL ME SOMETHING I DIDN'T KNOW!" Slade shouted back as he hurled his lance at the storage tank. The structure exploded, unleashing its payload of freezing mist. The cloud of cooling vapors spread across the whole area, chilling everything in its path. At the same time, the force-field above them deactivated as the circuitry became frozen.

"What are you doing?! It's getting cold in here! I'm freezing!" Jura complained, then realized something. "Wait a minute...?" She looked through her monitor and saw that the sand-creature she had been fighting suddenly became stiff and brittle. It then broke apart into a pile of shards. The other enemies followed suit.

"You're so smart, Mr. Alien!"

Barnette hated to admit it, but it had been a good idea.

Slade nodded as he looked back toward Meia's Vanguard. The sand that was coating it cracked apart, allowing Meia to see daylight again.

Inside her machine, Meia took on a scowl. To think that she now owed a man her life. She tried to make her mecha move, but it would not respond. She looked at her readouts and saw that the sand had drained much of her power systems. There was no way that she could escape in time.

"It won't budge!" Slade saw this and decided on the only course of action. There was no time to be delicate. Plowing his fist into the chest of the mecha, he tore open the canopy and stared down at the pilot, while extending out a hand.

"Come on!"

"What?"

"Right now, it doesn't matter between men and women! We don't have time to argue. If you don't want to die, then take me hand!" 

----------

"Thirty seconds!" 

----------

"_PEGAS_! Open up the cockpit!"

The Tekkabot came down beside its partner and opened up. Meia was immediately placed inside. At that moment, more of the sand-Vanguards began to form around them.

"GET GOING! ALL OF YOU!" Slade called out as he retrieved his lance and began fighting off the enemy. "I'LL BE RIGHT BEHIND YOU! PEGAS! LAUNCH NOW!"

The Tekkabot acknowledged the command and promptly lifted off. The other Vanguards followed suit, using their booster units to achieve escape velocity. Dita looked back and saw that Slade had finished off the last of his opponents and was just starting to lift off.

However, the computer that controlled the sand decided that if it were going down, then it would take the Tekkaman with it. A huge shape emerged from the sand and formed a gigantic hand, which snared Slade's legs and began dragging him back down.

"Mr. Alien" Dita cried out, though it was too late for anyone to help. The Vanguards and Tekkabot were speeding away, just as the countdown reached zero.

Slade turned about and stared down at the thing that was trying to kill him.

_I've had just about enough of you!_ His shoulder guards opened up and began focusing energy. His sensors located the master computer and then...

"_VOLTEKKER_!" 

----------

"Time's up."

On the bridge of the Nirvana, Magno and her crew watched with apprehension as the surface of the planet became covered with huge balls of orange-red explosions. Duero's medical monitors showed nothing but static. There was a foreboding silence on the bridge, as the pirates feared for the worst. Then a minute later, three of the five readouts for the landing party registered life signs as something burst out from the conflagrations that were ravaging the planet's surface.

"Three Vanguards and the Tekkabot are accounted for." Ezra said with a mixture of relief and concern.

"Only three?" Buzom said with apprehension. "Which ones?"

"I count Dita, Jura and Barnette's Vanguards." Ezra replied.

"If the Tekkabot is there, then that means that Slade survived, and Meia is..." Buzom began.

"Hold on!" Duero interrupted as he received a new readout from Pegas. "I'm picking up a new set of life signs from the Tekkabot. Slade isn't on Pegas. It's Meia!"

"You mean... Meia is on the Tekkabot?"

Magno became a bit confused at the news. "If Meia is on the Tekkabot, then where's Slade?"

The answer to the captain's question was answered a moment later when another explosion rocked the planet's surface. This time however, the explosion was bright, emerald-white hue. A few moments later, the Tekkaman rocketed upward from the blast and joined the landing party as they headed toward the Nirvana.

Erza breathed out a sigh of relief and smiled. "All Vanguard pilots and Slade are safe and accounted for."

The rest of the bridge personnel let off collective sigh as well. It was then that one of the crewmembers announced that she had received some data from the investigation.

"Read it." Buzom ordered.

The girl became a little tense, but nodded. "Attention. This year's harvest includes red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, lymph products, etc. All blood products are in good condition. That's where the data ends."

The pirate captain and her first officer became uneasy at this news. It was apparent that the enemy wanted nothing more than to harvest the crew like vegetables. Whatever motives the aliens had, it was for certain that they were quite formidable. 

----------

In the hanger bay, the Vanguards were being put away, but Parfat had decided that they would have to be maintained from now on, in case they would be needed again. With the aliens now stepping up in their attacks and such, it was a very real possibility.

Dita and the other pilots sat off to one side. Meia watched with a bit of anger at Slade, as he worked on Pegas.

_Being saved by someone is bad enough. But being rescued by a man is a disgrace. And of all the men in the universe, it **HAD** to be him!_

On the boarding ramp, Slade was quite aware that Meia harbored some resentment toward him, but decided to let it go. He only did what he had to do to save everyone and that was it. 

----------

_**CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!**_

"Pai check!"

Pyoro floated up behind Paiway and remarked, " I guess I'll never understand humans."

"What would be the point when you do?" Paiway asked.

"What's the point of what you're doing right now?"

"What a mean robot."

"Shut up." 

----------

Later...

"You wanted to see me, captain?" Meia asked as she came into the conference room. She saw that Buzom and Duero were also present.

"Yes Meia. There's something that I'd like to discuss with you. Please sit down."

The strong-willed girl became a bit tense as she suspected the reason why she had been summoned. "Captain, if it's about the mission..."

"That's exactly why I called for you." Magno said then took a deep breath. "This will be difficult for me to say... but I won't beat around the bush. As captain of this ship, my first priority is to the safety and well being of this crew. As such, I am expected to make some hard decisions." She then turned to Duero. "Doctor, what was your final analysis concerning this matter?"

The Nirvana's healer nodded as he addressed Meia. "I'm sorry to say this, but as the ship's head physician, I have to declare you as psychologically unfit to take part in any further Vanguard missions. It is my sad duty to permanently ground you from the Van-types."

"What?!" Meia shot up and slammed both hands on the conference table. She gave him a glare. "You can't say that! I lead all combat missions for this ship! Who are you to say of what I can or can't do?!"

"He happens to be our ship's doctor." Magno said sternly and motioned for the girl to sit, which Meia did reluctantly.

"Captain! You can't be serious about this! He doesn't have any authority on this ship and he's just a man!"

"On the contrary, Meia. I totally agree with him." The aged woman said. "And as I recall, I did make him, Bart and Slade members of this crew for the duration of this voyage. His analysis of your behavior during that last mission coincides with something that I've suspected of you for some time."

"What are you talking about? I was just suffering from fatigue, that's all!"

Duero shook his head. "You showed signs of agitation, nervousness, increased heart rate, hyperventilation, and higher blood pressure. You became indecisive and distraught. At one point during the mission, your entire body locked up. Those symptoms only occurred when you got into the cockpit of a Vanguard. I also saw those readouts when you rode Pegas. You showed all the classic signs of claustrophobia. (1) It seems that you cannot stand confined spaces and you panicked inside the Vanguard's cockpit."

"Ridiculous!" Meia denied. "I'm not going to just sit here and listen to this nonsense! I pilot a Dread better than anyone else, so what makes you think that I would have trouble with a Vanguard?"

"Unlike a Van-Type, a Dread's cockpit is more open and spacious, so it's not surprising that you would feel more comfortable in a Dread."

"He's right." Magno said quietly.

"What? You're actually siding with this... this... man?!"

"It's not a question of whether the doctor is a man or a woman, Meia." Buzom stated firmly. "The fact is that he has far more medical training than anyone else on board this ship and he had raised a valid point, in which the safety of fellow crewmembers was affected. Your fear of closed spaces had endangered the others. In fact, Slade had to rescue you."

Meia became silent at this statement and angrily remembered how that male had saved her and gotten the others to safety. She had been upstaged again by the Tekkaman and now this male doctor was telling her that she was unfit for combat! Why couldn't those men just go away? Things had been fine until they came on board!

Magno noted the young girl's reaction. "Meia, do not think that we are turning against you. Far from it. We are only thinking about your safety, as well as the rest of the crew. You are an outstanding Dread pilot and commander. No one on this ship would dispute that. Therefore, you shall remain as the leader of the Dread squadrons. However, both Buzom and I agreed that we couldn't risk losing you if we were to send you out in a Vanguard again. Do you understand?"

Meia remained silent for a long time while considering her captain's words. Finally, with a sigh, she reluctantly nodded. "I can see how I'm not going to win this argument. Very well then. So we just won't use the Vanguards any more. This was just the only time."

Buzom shook her head. "I'm sorry to say this Meia, but the captain and I also agreed to keep the Vanguards as an alternative. We don't know what we'll encounter on our way back to Mejele and there may be situations, in which the Vanguards will be needed. Therefore, we have decided to appoint a Vanguard squadron leader for any future missions."

"I see." Though Meia didn't like the idea of not being able to lead all combat missions, she understood that it was for the good of the crew. "So, will Barnette be taking over, or will it be Jura?"

Both captain and first officer glanced at each other with a slight bit of uneasiness. Then Magno spoke.

"Barnette did show considerable potential as a Vanguard pilot and Jura seemed to handle one well enough. However, we have already decided on the best candidate for the position. He showed exceptional leadership and control in a very tense situation."

"Then who is..." Meia's eyes widened as she realized something. "Wait a second! Did you say _HE_?! You don't mean that you're going to put _HIM_ in charge of the Vanguard squadron, are you?!" 

----------

Slade's quarters...

"Now let me get this straight. You want _ME_ to be the new Vanguard leader and take charge of all future Van-Type fighter missions?" Slade was in a state of shock. The women were asking him to lead them into battle?

"That's about the long and short of it." Magno replied.

"No offense, old woman... but are you finally becoming senile? I don't know anything about leading a group."

"You didn't have any problems with leading the landing party on that planet."

"I only took charge because I had to, not because I wanted to! Why don't you have Meia or Barnette be the new Vanguard leader?"

Magno shook her head. "I'm afraid that this is one type of combat mission that Meia is totally unsuited for. As for Barnette, she can pilot a Vanguard, but she doesn't have the kind of experience that you have."

"What do you mean?"

"You've shown that you're very experienced with hand-to-hand fighting and close-quarters combat. That is the specialty of the Vanguards, not the Dreads. Furthermore, your powers as a Tekkaman can only enhance the effectiveness of those machines, just as you had demonstrated today. You've shown compassion for a comrade, regardless of gender. I can't think of a better woman, er... man, uh, I mean person for the job."

Slade snorted a bit in disdain, then said, "Even if I did take the position, what makes you think that any of your crew would even listen to my orders, let alone follow them?"

"They will. They're a good crew and will do what is necessary to get the job done. I know them enough. So what is your answer?"

Slade paused for a while before answering. "I'll think about it." 

----------

The Tekkaman decided to ponder his decision in the hanger. When he arrived, he saw that the place was deserted, save for a certain someone that was sitting in her Dread's open cockpit. Without anything better to do, he walked up to it. He didn't bother to try and mask the sound of his approach, though if he wanted to, he could sneak up behind the girl without a sound.

Meia perked up from her brooding when she heard the footsteps of someone approaching. She looked down from her seat and frowned when she saw who it was.

"What are you doing here?" She asked irritably.

Slade shrugged as he stopped before the Dread and looked up. "Same reason why you're here, I guess, to think about a few things."

"Yeah right. You're just here to gloat, aren't you?" Meia shot back.

"I don't know what you're talking about and I certainly don't have anything to gloat about."

"Stop lying! You probably jumped for joy when you heard that I got kicked off the Vanguard squadron. By now, the captain has probably given command of all the Vanguard missions to you, right?"

"Well, she has offered me the position of Vanguard leader, but I haven't accepted it yet."

"What?"

Slade took a deep breath before continuing. "I really don't want the job, but it seems that captain and the higher-ups want me to take it. I'm not much when it comes to teams, but for the time being, it looks like I have to work with everyone. And that includes you."

"I want nothing to do with you! I don't need anyone's help, and I especially don't need help from a man!"

"Gee... that's too bad." Slade said nonchalantly. "And here I thought we made an okay team so far."

"What are you talking about?!"

"Well, we did a pretty good job against that space urchin as Tekkadread Meia, remember? Neither of us could have defeated that thing alone. And even though you did screw up today, do you hear me laughing or gloating about it? Nope. All I did was save a comrade. I'm sure that you would have done the same thing if the roles had been reversed, right?"

"W-W-What?!" Meia couldn't believe her ears. Slade was actually being humble? He wasn't showing any arrogance or cockiness?

"I've always been relying on myself. I never asked for anyone's help. I was proud of what I had accomplished and being independent. In a way... I guess that makes me like you, right?"

The Dread leader became shocked to hear this, and what even more shocking was the fact that Slade raised a good point. In this light, they were similar. They were both strong-willed and fiercely independent. They did what was necessary to get the job done and neither one was willing to back down from any challenge.

The Tekkaman was about to say something else, when a certain voice called out.

"Oh Mr. Alien!"

"Aw nuts! I gotta go!" Slade immediately ran off to leave Meia alone with her thoughts. And she had a lot of thinking to do.

To be continued...

Author's notes

As you can see, the changes in this story in comparison to episode 5 of Vandread is significant as I wanted some more character interaction. I like Meia, Jura and Dita and I wanted Slade to have more scenes between these three as the series progresses. As to who gets him in the end, well that remains to be seen.

In chapter six, we'll see more about Meia's past and how Ranma/Slade deals with his new responsibilities.

(1) If you've seen episode five and six of Vandread, then one could understand how I came to the conclusion that Meia is claustrophobic. I saw a scene in which Meia was a young girl and was shoved into an extremely crowded space capsule. That was the last time she saw her mother (fahma), and I could imagine the stifling crowds and feeling of helplessness would cause a lot of childhood trauma. Did anyone notice that she had a spacious cockpit in her Dread and a big space window in her room? That would further indicate that she doesn't like closed areas. This would explain why she did so poorly as a Vanguard pilot.


	7. Chapter 6: The Gauntlet

TEKKADREAD

Disclaimer: Help! I've started writing and I can't stop!

: Thoughts

Chapter six

The Gauntlet

On board the Nirvana and out in space, the female pirates and their male crewmembers were fighting hard for their survival. Ever since that first Vanguard mission, the men and women had been fending off their alien enemies almost nonstop as they continued on their journey back to Mejele and Tarak.

Today was an especially intense battle as the Nirvana was in the midst of an asteroid belt near a planet that was the size of Jupiter. The enemy had been lying in wait amid the field of ice chunks and space debris. No sooner had the Nirvana crossed into the zone, then the aliens ambushed it with dozens of squadrons of Cube-Types, several cruisers and carriers, plus a kind of new fighter that was extremely fast and maneuverable, putting the sleek Dread fighters to shame.

Meia gritted her teeth as she tried to take out the new ship, but the damned thing moved too fast for her to get a lock on it. The Dreads were having difficulty navigating around the asteroids. She looked off to one side and scowled as she saw the newly formed Vanguard squadron, pass by the large chunks of ice and rock with ease. Being smaller meant that the mecha could go places where the Dreads could not. This enabled them to get into position to attack, despite the confined areas.

At present, Slade's squadron, now known as Warrior Squadron, was using the asteroids for cover and bushwhacking the aliens. They were making an impressive number of kills among the Cube-Types and smaller fighters. However, the machines lacked the overall speed and firepower to make any significant headway with the larger and faster opponents.

At the head of the squadron was their commander, as he directed his forces in a flanking action. After days of cajoling and pestering, the Tekkaman had finally agreed to take command of the Van-Types and help train new pilots. With the help of Gascogne and Buzom, he had selected a number of recruits from the Register and the Dread crews, and put them though the equivalent of boot camp. Since martial arts was the Tekkaman's specialty, he used them extensively in the training sessions, which sharpened reflexes and made piloting the Vanguards much more effective. For weeks, he drilled them in the principals of physical combat and how to apply those rules to the Vanguards. More often than not, the trainees would be bruised, battered and totally exhausted after Slade put them through their paces. As for Slade himself, he had taken a course in basic space warfare tactics. With his background in the fighting arts, he was able to select the best strategies that suited the Bangattas under his command. 

Initially, those who had been selected for Vanguard duty resented the idea of following a man's orders, but under the insistence of the captain and her senior staff, the females grudgingly underwent the training. They had to admit that the former Saotome was no easy taskmaster, and he had no compunctions with flooring a trainee who got too far out of line. One particular female named Xian Pu had received a LOT of bruises from her new commander.

Like Ukyo, Xian Pu was a direct descendent of the original girl who would have been the fiancée of Ranma Saotome, centuries ago. Unlike the first Xian Pu, she had scarlet hair. She had always been proud of her Amazon roots, and had been touted as the best hand-to-hand fighter on board the ship. However, that all changed when she had been selected for Vanguard pilot and put under Slade's command.

At first, she scoffed at the idea of taking orders from a mere male. She even went so far in challenging him to a one-on-one battle. She had said that if he could defeat her in combat, then she would follow his orders to the letter. If she won, then she would be the new Vanguard leader. Slade had no problems with accepting her challenge. 

----------

Flashback...

"Well come on. You're the one who challenged." Slade said as he stood with arms crossed, in the Vanguard hanger and training section. The other trainees watched on the sidelines as the Tekkaman and martial artist faced off against one of the best female fighters on the Nirvana.

On the other side, Xian Pu glared at the arrogant male. She one of the proud descendants of the mighty Chinese Amazons and she would not be defeated by a mere man. She had heard of how Slade had tossed the formidable Meia Gisborn, but she was confident that she would win. Meia was a good and respected fighter, but Xian Pu prided herself on being the best hand-to-hand combatant. Furthermore, Slade was not allowed to transform during this match. She would show this male his place!

"Remember, when I beat you, then you will go back to the Register and I will lead the Vanguards!"

Slade nodded. "Agreed. IF you can beat me. When I win, you will follow my orders to the letter."

"Hah! This won't take long! HIYAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" 

----------

End of Flashback...

True to her words, the match had been a short-lived one. However, Xian Pu had found herself kissing the floor of the hanger. Her skills were considered impressive by even Slade's standards, but she had proven to be no match against the Anything Goes and the various other styles that the Tekkaman had mastered during his planet-hopping trips. Xian Pu now knew what a basketball felt like after being slapped, tossed and slam-dunked around the hanger.

Luckily for Slade, the laws of the Amazons were long since faded over time and Xian Pu wasn't aware of the kill the girls and marry the men rule. After being raised on Mejele, she had thought like the majority of the population that men were totally useless and to be hated. In any case, the female was held to her word and underwent the training like everyone else. However, being impressed by her skills, Slade had decided to make her second-in-command of the Vanguards, which lessened the hostility between them. 

----------

Present time, in space...

The past events infuriated Meia every time she thought about them, and when she got angry, she got careless. As she continued to pursue her foe among the asteroids, she neglected to check her aft scanners as three Cube-Types came up from behind. They were in perfect position to destroy her, but they didn't know that someone was watching Meia's back. Before they could open fire, a pair of Vanguards and a Tekkaman sliced them apart.

"Meia!" Slade called out as he watched her Dread continue to pursue the enemy fighter. "That's thing's too fast! I'm coming over to combine!" The serious nature of the battle overrode personal pride, and Slade knew that the enemy fighter wouldn't be able to outrun Tekkadread Meia.

"This is my fight!" The stubborn, strong-willed girl shouted back. "I don't need you!" She brought her fighter about to try and catch up to her nimble adversary. However, just as she banked to avoid being hit by a huge chunk of rock, she gasped as her opponent suddenly reversed its heading and opened fire. Her Dread took a bad hit on its fuselage... near the cockpit.

Slade instantly shot toward the Dread, leaving his two Vanguards to chase off the enemy fighter before it could fire at Meia again. The Dread listed in space while trailing plasma and debris. As the Tekkaman came close to the damaged fighter, his heart stopped for a moment. Inside the cockpit, Meia was slumped over her console and blood pooled from a head wound. 

----------

"Surface wound on the head and ruptured spleen! She also has a visually fractured femur." Duero said as he assessed Meia's injuries. 

Slade and Dita were running beside the physician as he guided the gurney toward the sick bay. After towing her damaged Dread back to the Nirvana, Slade had left Xian Pu in charge of the Vanguard squadron while he and the red-haired pilot rushed the Dread leader to the emergency room. Jura was now in command of the Dread teams in Meia's absence.

"CLEAR THE EMERGENCY ROOM!" The doctor shouted as they burst into the sick bay and slid Meia's gurney under an examination scanner. Immediately, the only doctor on board the Nirvana went to work. He stripped off the top of Meia's flight suit without hesitation and did not take notice of her breasts. He had been reading up on female anatomy ever since taking the position of the Nivana's surgeon. What was important now was to stabilize Meia's vital functions. Paiway immediately came to Meia's side with a syringe as Duero instructed her to administer the sedatives.

During the administrations, Meia's headpiece fell off and made a clinking noise on the floor as pieces of crystal went scattering. As the sedatives began to take effect, Meia's consciousness began slipping away. Before darkness overcame her, she uttered one word.

"Mother..." 

----------

Out in space, things were not going well...

"A-Team, switch to alpha formation! And B-Team... uh, let's see..." Jura became indecisive as she tried to direct the Dreads the way she thought Meia would have done. She had very few opportunities to lead as Meia had usually taken command of all Dread formations.

Unfortunately, the Dread teams became more disorganized as the enemy continued to press the attack. Several of the female pilots were put out of commission as the aliens cut through their ranks and started attacking the Nirvana itself. The ship shuddered, as enemy fire rained down on its defensive barrier. 

On the bridge, Magno and Buzom knew that the situation was going to get worse, especially after hearing that the leader of the Dreads had become incapacitated. The enemy was now using decoys to further confuse the fighters and more reports and cries for help came pouring though. The communications was near to overloading and there seemed to be no hope of getting out of this trap.

"Three more Dreads have been rendered inoperative!"

"I can't find anyone out here!"

"Who's in charge of the D-Team?"

"I can't receive Miss Gasco's order!"

"Help! I'm hit!"

"Jura! The formation you ordered is a total mess!"

"I know that! I know that!"

Down in the Register, Gascogne's crew was also having difficulties. With the flood of repair and ammunition orders that were being sent, the staff found themselves overwhelmed. Panic began to ensue, but the head supplier kept a cool head and called for their attention.

"Easy girls. Panicking isn't going to help us win this one. Well, let's hear it."

The staff gave a simultaneous wave and replied, "Smile! Smile!"

"Carry on."

Ironically, the only group that was still organized was the Vanguard squadron. Slade had trained the pilots with the discipline of martial arts, which enabled them to keep calm and collected during this frenzy of laser fire and cannon blasts. The hardships they had endured under the Tekkaman's training regimen now bore fruit. They were doing a good job of keeping the Cube-Types away from the Nirvana. However, they were still outnumbered and couldn't be everywhere at once. Despite their most valiant efforts to support the Dreads, more fighters fell to the alien onslaught.

A flash of green was seen as Slade rejoined the battle, this time riding the Tekkabot. The Tekkaman had considered using his Voltekker, but with too many allies in close proximity, he couldn't risk it. As a result, he was forced to take out his enemies one by one. 

As he flashed by and took out three more Cube-Types, he looked overhead and saw the same enemy fighter that had taken out Meia before. The thing was fast, even faster than he was. It seemed to function as the head of the assault force. Destroying it may be the key to winning the battle. Since combining with Meia's Dread was out of the question, he decided on the next option. Spotting Dita's Dread, he headed toward it while leaving instructions for his Vanguards to give him some covering fire.

"It's time to combine!"

Dita perked up in surprise. This was the first time Mr. Alien was willing to combine with anyone, especially her. "Uh... sure."

In just a few seconds, the Tekkaman jumped off Pegas and was swallowed up inside Dita's fighter. A bright flash of light later, and Tekkadread Dita was now joining the battle. It easily swatted aside a few Cube-Types as it homed in on its target. Though it wasn't fast as Tekkadread Meia, it had the advantage of long-range firepower.

Inside the cockpit of the merged machine, Slade nodded as he and Dita closed in on the alien machine. Once they were in range, he engaged the shoulder cannons, took aim and... ducked.

That is to say, the entire Tekkadread ducked, narrowly avoiding a collision with a huge asteroid. The enemy fighter zipped around the asteroid and was instantly out of range.

"Damn! We can't keep up with that thing!"

At that moment, Jura's Dread came alongside them. "Nice going. Is that all a smart-aleck male can do?"

Slade's temper was already at a high point and he instantly shot back with his own barb. "Give me orders when you know what YOU'RE doing!"

"Shut up! I don't need a MAN to tell me what to do!"

Slade was about let off another insult, but then calmed down. Fighting among his allies was not helping the situation. He wondered just why it seemed so instinctive for him to give insults. "Ahhhh... forget it. It's not worth it." With that, he directed the Tekkadread to bank away and support his Vanguard troops. 

----------

While listening in on the communications on the confusion and arguments between the pilots and crew, Buzom shook her head in frustration. "It seems that we've depended on Meia too much. We've neglected to train a sub-commander in the event that she is incapacitated."

Magno sighed. "That's because she wouldn't let us. She's always been like that, from the day she first joined up." 

----------

In the sick bay, Duero and Paiway were desperately trying to stabilize Meia's condition.

"Paiway! Adjust the oxygen saturation levels. We've got to keep Meia from going into shock!"

As the apprentice nurse followed the doctor's orders, she noticed a glint near Mei's left eye. She gasped as she saw a trickle of moisture run down the Dread leader's cheek.

"This is the first time I've seen Meia cry." 

----------

Inside her mind, Meia's memories of her childhood came bubbling up to the surface. She saw her ohma and fahma fuss over a little, blue-haired girl as she came home from school. Meia's parents had been scientists that were involved in a research facility that had promised biological advancements which would improve living conditions to Mejele's populace.

The scenes then flashed forward to a Christmas eve in which she had received the Paksis crystal headpiece that she now wore. Her mother (fahma), smiled as she commented that it was wonderful gift that Meia's ohma had given to her. More images flashed by as happier times were brought up. Then one scene in particular appeared. It was a memory that would haunt Meia for the rest of her days, and it was the main reason why the normally tough Dread leader was fearful of closed places. She saw herself being packed into a space capsule with dozens of other children as explosions and chaos ran amok. She reached out toward the hatch at her ohma, but the gentle-looking woman smiled sadly and shook her head, saying that this was for the best. Then the door slammed shut and Meia saw only darkness. 

----------

The battle raged on outside of the Nirvana, as the main Dread fighter groups had been pulled back for repairs and rearmament. The secondary groups were flying to maintain the defensive lines and were being supported by the Vanguards, until Jura and the more seasoned pilots were ready to go out again.

However, the blonde pilot was in no condition, physically or mentally, to go out and lead the fighters. After that disaster with the formations, she had retreated into her own shell and was presently sitting and sobbing in a corner of the Register. Her face was against her knees as her long hair hid her expression.

"I... can't do this! I'll can't... replace Meia!"

"No one expects you to."

Jura looked up to see the head supplier standing over her. 

Gascogne nodded as she explained. "No one here is blaming you for what's been happening. We're all feeling the pressure, but crying about it isn't going to help. No one here expects you to be like Meia."

"She's right."

The two women turned to see Slade's image appear on a nearby monitor. Currently, Tekkadread Dita was underneath the Nirvana and was being recharged.

"I wanted to apologize for that last outburst." Slade explained. "I guess we were all feeling the strain and I'd rather be fighting the enemy than my own side."

Gascogne nodded as she looked back down at Jura. "We're all in this together Jura, and you should learn not to take all the workload on your own. Being a leader means that you have to depend on your team, as well as yourself. And when you lead, then lead the way you would do it, not the way that you think that someone else would."

Slade nodded in agreement. "And when you're in command, then just command. Look at me. I never wanted to be Vanguard leader, but since I have to take the job, then I don't gripe about it. I just do it. I do what I believe needs to be done and the rest will fall into place. That's all you need to ask for." With those words, the monitor went dark.

The head supplier smiled a bit. "You know, for a man, he does give some good advice." 

----------

The doctor had become worried. Even though the surface wounds had been taken care of and the vital signs had been stabilized, there was still a problem. A fragment of Paksis crystal had become lodged in Meia's cerebral cortex and Deuro was concerned that it may cause psychological trauma to his patient.

Inside Meia's head, the Dread pilot was now visualizing her life after being packed into that escape capsule. The scandal that had caused the ruin of her parent's company also made her an outcast, She saw herself growing up on the streets, fighting for survival and acceptance. She could hear the whispers of people passing by, stating that she was no better than scum now. They mocked and teased at her. She had been a famous person once, the daughter of two very well-respected scientists. It wasn't long before she had fallen into a bout of depression and despair. Soon, her only goal in life, was to end it.

That was when she had encountered the pirate captain. 

----------

"Damn! This is really pissing me off!" Slade growled as he and Dita sat inside of the Tekkadread.

"I wonder if Meia is going to die?" Dita found herself holding back her tears.

However, her partner was not in the mood to see her cry. "Don't worry about it. "She'll be fine."

"You think so?"

Slade cocked his head in thought as he remembered back to his travels between planets. "I've learned a few things during my travels. You can complain and whine about anything, but when it's all said and done, you've got ask yourself this. Are you the person that you were and have you become the person that you wanted to be?"

"Huh?"

"I know it's hard, but let the Doc handle the job of taking care of your leader. Our job is to protect the ship and the sick bay that she's in, right?"

Dita sniffled a bit, then smiled. "You're right. Thank you, Mr. Alien."

"Will you stop calling me that?" Slade asked in annoyance.

It was then that they both received a message from Jura.

"Attention all pilots. Begin changing the frequencies of your barriers and beams. We should be able to avoid being damaged by friendly fire."

It was then that Slade became inspired. 

----------

On the bridge, Magno received more bad news. The port arm of the ship had been hit, causing the Nirvana to begin tilting. The defensive barrier was now down to its third level. Once that was gone, then the pirate vessel would be totally defenseless. The enemy was now regrouping for one final assault.

At that point, she received a communiqué from Slade.

"Captain, there's no need to worry about all this. I've got a plan that I'd like to try."

Magno perked up at this announcement. "Are you thinking of a suicide mission?"

"No, but this plan is almost as crazy as a kamikaze. In any case, dying isn't on my agenda today. I still haven't tried everything in the galley's menu yet."

"If this plan turns out well, you can eat yourself to death."

"Works for me. However, there is one catch."

"Which is?"

"I'm... going to have to take command of the Dreads as well as the Vanguards. Just this once."

"I thought you didn't like being in command."

"I don't, but I have to." 

----------

Duero found himself out of alternatives. He couldn't risk brain surgery on Meia at present, so he had called on Parfat to rig an ultrasonic psycho-stimulator. In theory, the machine would cause the Paksis fragment to disintegrate, thereby bring Meia back from her near-comatose state. However, if it did not work, then she would never be the same again. 

----------

In space, in front of the Nirvana...

"All right everyone, get into formation. I'm getting hungry and there's an all-you-can-eat buffet with my name on it. Let's get this over with in one shot!"

All of the Dread teams became lined up behind Tekkadread Dita as the enemy began forming up for the final confrontation. The Vanguards also moved into strategic positions. Each mecha carried a kind of reflective panel.

"All teams report in." Slade called out.

There was a long silence as no one answered the Tekkaman. Then, in very restrained voices, the squadron leaders replied.

"A-Team ready."

"B-Team ready."

"C-Team ready."

"D-team ready."

"Warrior squadron ready."

Slade nodded. It was obvious that the Dread pilots liked taking his orders even less than the Vanguards, but now was not the time to argue. As the enemy ships closed in on the Nirvana's position, he began counting down.

"Ten..."

A barrage of beams and cannon fire pounded on the barrier of the Nirvana, causing it to flicker and buckle under the strain.

"... nine... eight... seven..."

The barrier gave way, leaving the ship open to attack. Inside of his navigation well, Bart cried out in pain as the Nirvana took several direct hits.

"... six... five... four..."

The enemy vessels closed in and were now committed to the attack.

"... three... two... one... LET'S GO!"

The Dreads and Vanguards charged forward as Tekkadread Dita let the counterattack. 

----------

In the sick bay, Meia screamed out as the stimulator was activated, Her body thrash about in violent convulsions, making everyone present very tense. After a minute of the treatment, her form stiffened up, then collapsed back onto the table. The monitors that were displaying her vital signs flat-lined.

"MEIA!" Parfat screamed. 

----------

"I CAN'T TAKE THIS!" Dita cried out as the Tekkadread was ruthlessly pounded on all sides by enemy fire. 

Slade however, kept calm and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He smiled as he continued to watch the monitors. The Dreads and Vanguards were reaching their designated coordinates right about... now!

"HERE WE GO!"

The Tekkaman suddenly flared with light as he fed his aura and power into the Tekkadread's systems. The shoulder cannons detached from the mountings and fused to the arm blades, forming a sword on each arm. The blades glowed with power as Slade prepared to fire.

"BLADE... VOLTEKKER!"

The Tekkadread thrust out its arms and let loose with multiple blasts of quantum energy which shot out toward the Dreads and Vanguards. Each shot reflected off the shields of his allies and lanced toward the enemy in all directions. The results were devastating for the opposing side. Cruisers and Cube-Types were blown away, along with asteroids and any other obstacles. Even the new, ultra-fast enemy fighter was blown to pieces as it couldn't dodge shots being fired in all directions. There was one massive explosion as the main body of the enemy force was annihilated. 

----------

"That's totally insane!" Buzom declared. "He used our shields to reflect his shots!"

Magno shrugged. "It may have been insane, but it worked anyway. Tell the galley to get ready for an extra-hungry customer." 

----------

Meia felt as if she could now let go. It was so peaceful, so quiet. She felt no pain, no worries, nothing at all. She found herself standing on a grass field under a clear blue sky. She could finally rest in peace.

However, just before she let herself fall into oblivion, she head a voice. It was a gentle voice which she instantly recognized.

"My little one. Do not give up. You are far stronger than I, and you have your whole life ahead of you."

"Mother? MOTHER?!"

"Though you may not know it, you have many friends who care about you. It would make them very sad if you were to leave them now."

Meia then began seeing images of her comrades on the Nirvana. People such as Magno, Gascogne, Parfat and Paiway flashed by. Then they were followed by the males of the crew. She saw Duero as he tried to give her advice about operating a Vanguard; advice which she had ignored and almost nearly cost her life. Then she saw Bart with his idiotic expressions and whining attitude. Finally, she saw Slade.

She saw him when he was cocky and arrogant, though he had the skills and power to back up that attitude. However, she also saw him when he was introspective and moody. Finally she saw him as a Tekkaman.

She began feeling herself being pulled in two directions. On one side was the specter of death, who promised eternal rest and freedom from pain, yet she would spend it in darkness. On the other side was the angel of life, who promised a life of trials and more pain, yet it would be spent in blinding light. Meia would have to spend her remaining energy on a choice. Life and more conflict, or death and endless shadow.

With a deep mental breath, she chose. 

----------

"It's so bright..." Meia mumbled as she opened her eyes and looked at the overhead operating light. Standing above her and sobbing were Paiway and Parfat.

"You came back to us!" The engineer exclaimed happily.

"We brought you back!" Paiway said.

"Stop it okay." Meia reached up to feel her face, and instantly realized that her headpiece was gone.

"Don't worry. It's right here." The doctor said as he held up Meia's most prized possession. "This is very important to you, isn't it?"

Meia shook her head. "No. In reality... it's a lesson." 

----------

Meia couldn't sleep. After spending a few hours, sitting in her room and staring out the large picture window at the stars outside, she decided that she needed some air.

After putting on her usual attire, she decided to visit the ship's mess hall. The other pilots had been celebrating their latest victory over the aliens and were now sleeping off the effects of overindulgence. Plates were piles high on all the tables. Empty bottles were strewn all over the place. Crewmembers were either slumbering on the floor or in their chairs. Though the Dread leader didn't approve of this lack of discipline, she didn't fault them for it. They had earned this. They had defeated the enemy... without her.

She then walked over to a table where the plates were piled the highest and saw Dita sleeping. Meia assumed that was the table in which Slade had eaten. However, she did not find the Tekkaman slumbering after pigging out. She looked down at the empty chair and became lost in thought for a while, until she heard footsteps behind her.

"They all did their best today."

"Captain." The Dread leader turned to face the Nirvana's commander.

The old woman gestured with her walking stick at the empty chair. "He ate enough to feed the entire crew for a week. However, he earned it."

"I see." Meia had been told that the counterattack against the enemy had been Slade's idea.

"It's certainly ironic isn't it?"

"What is?"

"Slade is a lot like you, don't you think? The only real difference between you two is that he doesn't keep all of his feelings bottled up. I didn't think he would win everyone's hearts, or at least their respect so quickly, and right under our noses at that."'

When Meia did not respond to that remark, the ancient woman added, "Meia... I know that these past weeks have been hard on you, but don't you think that you should open up a little more? Perhaps it may be time to find forgiveness... for yourself."

Meia gazed out at the stars through another observation port and considered her leader's words. 

----------

Meia found Slade working out in the ship's recreation and exercise room. He was bare-chested and going through the motions of a very complex kata. The girl did not recognize the style he was using, and it made even Xian Pu's movements seem clumsy and energy wasteful. For a long while, she simply watched him as he moved with all the grace of a predatory cat, yet his form hinted at awesome power that was just waiting to be released.

After a few more minutes, Slade stopped in a neutral stance and took several deep breaths before turning to her. He gave her a small smile as he greeted her.

"So did you enjoy the show?"

"It was... interesting." Meia allowed.

"So how are you?"

"I'm... fine."

"Good." Slade said as he went into another ready stance in preparation for another series of katas. "Taking command of the Dreads is not something that I want to do on a regular basis. I have enough problems with the Vanguards."

It was then that Meia released her bombshell.

"You were right."

Slade suddenly stopped and turned to her in puzzlement. "Excuse me?"

Meia swallowed a bit. "You were right. I should have combined with you. That fighter was just too fast for my Dread. I was just too stubborn to admit it."

"Am I hearing things? Is the tough Dread leader actually admitting that she was wrong?" Meia gave Slade a bit of scowl, in which Slade responded by holding up a hand. "No insult intended. I'm just surprised that you are actually saying that you needed help. I kind of pegged you as the totally independent type, who doesn't accept help from anyone. It's just surprising, that's all. It's shows that there's really a human being underneath that shell."

Slade went back to his training, leaving Meia to watch and consider his words.

To be continued...

Author's notes

Well, that takes care of chapter 6. There's not much difference between this chapter and the episode in Vandread, but I felt that it didn't need to be changed much. As for the next chapter, I will now be focusing on the relationship between Slade and Dita. I like Dita, Meia and Jura and I intend to give them all a chance at Slade as well some other girls. 


	8. Chapter 7: Don't Call Me Mr Alien

****

**TEKKADREAD**

Disclaimer: Ranma, Tekkaman and Vandread belong to their own creators, so please don't keep bugging me about it.

: Thoughts

**Chapter 7**

**Don't Call Me Mr. Alien**

Two weeks after the battle in the asteroid field...

Dita smiled as she put the finishing touches on the gift she was planning for her Mr. Alien. It was a pink pillow with the picture of a cute extraterrestrial with tentacles. As she sewed on the patch, her friend Paiway watched with a bit of puzzlement.

"Are you going to give that to some guy?" The eleven-year-old asked.

Dita blushed a bit as she thought about Slade.

"If it's not for anyone, then you can give it to me?" Paiway piped up.

Dita shook her head while gleefully holding her gift to her chest. "No way! I'm making this for Mr. Alien!"

Paiway frowned as she held up her frog puppet. "Barf! Kero!" 

---------

A few minutes later, the happy-go-lucky girl went over to where she thought Slade would be. Her gift was clutched to her chest. She was certain that the Tekkaman would like it. However, when she came to the hanger where Pegas and the transformed Dreads were, she saw no trace of the object of her affection. The cockpit to the Tekkabot was open, but Slade didn't seem to be anywhere.

"Pegas, have you seen Mr. Alien?" The Dread pilot asked.

The Tekkabot slowly shook its head.

"That's strange. I was sure that was in here." The red-haired pilot went off after taking a peek inside the cockpit.

A minute later, the Tekkabot looked down at its chest and said, "All clear."

Slade grumbled a bit as he dropped down from the space just under the canopy. If Dita had looked up, she would have spotted him. As he dusted himself off, he addressed his partner. "Thanks. I didn't know that you were programmed to lie, Pegas."

The mecha shook its head again. "I did not lie. I do not know of anyone named Mr. Alien, therefore I could not have seen him."

"Oh. Well, that's what that girl calls me."

Pegas nodded as it filed the new information. "Master Slade also known as Mr. Alien."

Slade could only sigh, then remembered that he had to do something today. 

----------

On the bridge of the Nirvana, Buzom became a bit restless, as there had been no alien attacks for the past few days. The crew was trying their best not to fall asleep at their stations. This was especially more difficult for Ezra in her current state of pregnancy. When she was not constantly eating to satisfy her cravings, she would be nodding off.

The first office sighed at the sheer boredom. "It seems that when we're not under attack, things get rather dull around here. Perhaps we should have the crew go through a few practice drills or..."

"I didn't know that you were into that military ballyhoo." Magno remarked.

"I'm only thinking about the safety and well-being of the crew, Captain."

"Our business is piracy, isn't it?"

"Well, yes but..."

The older woman waved off her second's response. The crew deserved a break from the constant battles. However, if Buzom was getting bored...

"If you feel bored, then you can always head down to section E-9."

"Section E-9?"

"Yes, I believe that Slade is down there now with the Warrior Squadron and a few new trainees." 

----------

Section E-9

WHOMP!

The female trainee groaned as she lay flat on her back. "I'm done."

Slade nodded as he helped the girl back onto her feet. As she went back to where the new Vanguard candidates were sitting, the Tekkaman addressed them. Behind the first group were the more experienced pilots, including Xian Pu.

"Now then, did everyone see what Miniya's mistake was? She overextended herself and was too slow in recovering. One of the key points in martial arts is to never leave yourself open to attack."

"Just what does all of this martial arts training have to do with piloting a Vanguard?" Another trainee asked.

Slade explained. "Martial arts training can be applied to many different areas, not just for hand-to-hand fighting. It helps with discipline and focus. Also, since the Vanguards had been made specifically for close-quarters combat, as you learn the specifics with how to fight with your own body, you can apply those lessons to operating the mecha. Ask any of the more experienced pilots and they will tell you that piloting a Van-Type is like moving one's own body. In fact, you can think of your machine as an extension of your body."

The girls in the back all nodded, though some of them did so reluctantly.

The Tekkaman continued to explain. "Furthermore, martial arts is an excellent way to keep yourselves in good health. Your reflexes and awareness are sharpened, and those are two skills that are critical to being part of this unit. Sometimes, they're the only things that will keep you alive when you're in combat. However, don't think that you will always be with your mecha. There will be times in which you may have to defend yourself without any Vanguard or weapon. With martial arts, you'll always have something to fall back on."

The girls began murmuring among themselves as Slade walked over to where three volunteers were standing. All three were wearing their laser rings and had them set for heavy stun.

At that point, Buzom walked in and stopped to watch Slade as he prepared his next demonstration. She looked over the group of raw recruits. Each one was dressed in white training uniforms. She then became surprised to see Meia sitting with the trainees. Apparently, the tough Dread Leader had decided to swallow her pride and attend the practice drills. Due to her claustrophobia, she was unable to pilot a Vanguard, but Slade had told the crew that his martial arts classes were open to everyone. Buzom also spotted Duero. She reasoned that the good doctor was present in case anyone suffered injuries, but also noted that he too was dressed in a white gi.

"Now then, with the help of these three girls, I will demonstrate just how effective martial arts can be against multiple adversaries. Even without any weapons, a person with the proper training can overcome the odds..." Slade paused to make a strip of cloth appear from within the sleeve of his gi. "Even with one's eyes closed." With those words, he wrapped the cloth around his head, covering his eyes and effectively cutting off his vision.

When he stood in the midst of the three volunteers, he motioned for them to attack.

The girl behind him immediately held up her ring and pressed the firing stud. However, Slade sensed her attack and ducked under the beam. He pivoted on one foot and swung out with the other in a legsweep. The female pirate went down as her cohorts tried to maneuver to get into better firing positions. As the first trainee landed on her rear, Slade immediately went into a tuck-and-roll, evading two more stun bolts, then came up in a handspring that caught his other two students flatfooted. A second girl found herself being thrown across the mat, colliding with the first girl, just as she was getting back up. The two went down in a tangle as the third girl tried to fire off another shot.

However, the martial artist was just too fast as he suddenly came up from behind, and then grabbed both of her arms in a wrestling hold. The female winced as she felt some pressure being applied to her wrists, making her hands reflexively open. In an instant, her ring was removed and she found herself being shoved toward her comrades. All three girls found themselves sprawled on the floor, as Slade put on the ring and let loose with three rapid shots. The trainees stiffened as the beams struck dangerously close to where they were. They looked back up at their instructor as he removed his blindfold.

"I could have easily killed all three of you if this ring had not been set for stun." He then turned to his other students. "I hope you've all learned something from this."

The girls had to admit they were impressed. 

----------

The female trainees followed Slade as he led them through a serious of basic katas. Each girl mimicked the Tekkaman's movements with varying degrees of precision. Some were unsteady and out of rhythm, while others copied his actions perfectly. Everyone was breathing with a steady flow, taking measured intakes of air and exhaling just as carefully.

"Remember, breathing correctly is just as important as going through the motions." Slade instructed. "Focus on each breath you take and let your movements be in harmony with..."

"MR. ALIEN!"

Slade gritted his teeth when he heard that voice. The entire class turned to see Dita standing at the entrance, holding up a pink pillow. A number of girls sported large sweatdrops.

Slade could only shake his head while pinching the bridge of his nose. It was going to be one of those days. 

----------

Gascogne's Register...

"Well now, what brings you here, D-Boy?" The head supplier asked as she saw Slade enter the room, dressed in his tuxedo.

Slade could only shake his head and sigh tiredly. "Guess." He had thought that he could work off some of his tension in the Register.

"Ah." The muscular woman nodded in understanding. "Dita again?"

Slade nodded as he began accessing the computer console for any jobs that were pending. "She came up to me with a pink pillow, right in the middle of a training session. You know how embarrassing it is to be called Mr. Alien when you're trying to teach a class?"

Gascogne chuckled a bit. "Well no, but I'll admit that Dita does need a bit of work with tact."

"A BIT of work?" Slade stressed.

"All right, a lot of work." The head supplier admitted. "She just wants to show her appreciation for all that you've done for us."

"I wish she'd back off a bit on her... enthusiasm. At the very least, I wish she'd call me by my real name, instead of Mr. Alien." The Tekkaman frowned as he read the computer readout. "There isn't anything for me to do?"

Gascogne shook her head. "Sorry. All the staff is off-duty and we're ahead of schedule, thanks to you. You happen to be one of my most efficient stagehands."

Slade shook his head as he turned to leave.

Gascogne then called to him, as he was about to exit the Register. "Hold up. Since we've got some spare time, why not hang out with me?" As Slade turned around, she held up a deck of cards.

Slade blanched at the sight as a dim memory from his distant past came to the surface. It was not so much as a memory than a feeling as an uneasy shiver ran down his back.

"What's the matter? You don't know how to play cards?" The muscular woman asked. She had never seen Slade look so tense before.

"No... it's not that. I'm... just not very good with cards." Slade admitted as he saw an image in his mind of some person with a goofy-looking beard and was dressed like a playing card character. He shook his head to clear it and turned to leave. "I really don't think I'd much of a challenge."

"Oh come now. Just a few friendly hands?" Gascogne insisted.

Slade sighed as he nodded and sat down at the table. 

----------

The mess hall...

"He was so angry at me. I only wanted to give him a present." Dita said sadly as she and Meia sat together.

"Well... you have to admit, that it was the wrong time for you to come charging in. He was teaching a class."

"I only wanted to make Mr. Alien happy." Dita pouted.

Meia found herself at a bit of a loss. Though she was inexperienced with interpersonal matters, she didn't want to see Dita looking so downcast. On the other hand, she sometimes felt a pang of jealousy, whenever the bubbly Dread pilot got close to Slade. She also didn't like the way Jura was always trying to convince the Tekkaman to combine with her.

Meia paused in her thoughts, as she wondered just where that feeling of jealousy came from. Why should she feel jealous if any other girl on the Nirvana spent time with Slade? He was just a man after all.

"Dita... I'm not too good at this kind of thing, but I really think that you shouldn't try to force your way into someone's heart."

The red-haired pilot stiffened at those words. Could it be true? Was she trying to get into someplace where she wasn't wanted? 

----------

"Two pair."

"Full house."

"Ah nuts."

Gascogne nodded as she collected the cards and reshuffled them. "You weren't kidding when you said you weren't very good at cards. That's the tenth hand you've lost in a row."

Slade sighed while nodding. "Yeah, well I don't why, but I just can't seem to get the hang of anything that has to do with cards."

"Well, it helps pass the time." Gascogne said as she began dealing out a new hand. "By the way, are you going to talk with Dita?"

"What for?" Slade asked as he picked up his newest hand and looked over the cards.

"Well, she made a mistake, but I don't think you should stay mad at her for just that." She took two cards and called.

"Who says I'm mad? I'm not even thinking about her! Three of a kind."

"If you say so. Straight flush."

"One more time!" 

----------

After losing twenty more hands to Gascogne, Slade had decided that he had enough and left the Register. The head supplier was nosy and kept on asking him about his relationship with Dita. Since when was it any of her business? It was at that point that he and the other Dread Pilots were called in for a strategy meeting.

As he walked into the room, he noted that Dita was absent. However, Jura was giving him that hungry look that sent a slight shiver down Slade's spine.

"Where's Dita?" Meia asked.

"How should I know?" Slade replied, showing indifference.

It was at that point that the person in question entered the room and took a seat. She looked up and then averted her eyes when she gazed upon Slade.

"You're late." Meia scolded.

"I'm sorry." Dita apologized as she looked down at her hands.

Meia gave her subordinate a concerned look, then continued with the briefing. "We'll be practicing some new tactics, in which Slade and Dita's Tekkadread..."

"No."

This caught everyone's attention as they turned to the young pilot.

"Excuse me?" Meia asked in total puzzlement.

"I'm... not going to combine with Mr. Alien any more. It seems that I'm always making Mr. Alien mad." Dita turned to Jura. "You can combine with him if you want to."

Jura had been caught totally of-guard with this sudden reversal. Dita had handed Slade to her on a silver platter.

As for the Tekkaman in question, he found himself at a loss for words. He wasn't used to seeing Dita so subdued. It seemed as if all her enthusiasm and vigor had been drained out of her.

As for Jura, a grin began to form as she saw that an opportunity had presented itself. Beside her, Barnette sighed. 

----------

"Will you just lay off?" Slade growled as he walked down to the recreation room. After the strategy meeting, he had hoped to work off his stress in the gym, but Jura had been harping him nonstop about the next time they went out into battle.

"I just KNOW that we're going to combine into something beautiful!"

"Hey, just because that UFO girl doesn't want to do it any more doesn't mean that I'm going to do it with you!" Slade paused and winced as he thought about the unintentional meaning to his last statement. A brief hentai thought went through his mind, along with an image of Jura without her clothes, which he immediately discarded. Sometimes knowing the truth about men and women on a ship full of beautiful females made him very uncomfortable.

"Hey! I'm not through with you yet!" Jura called out as Slade increased his pace and quickly rounded a corner. The blonde pilot rounded the corner two seconds later and saw... an empty hallway.

_Where did he go?_ The twenty-year-old looked back and forth, but could see no sign of him. She then headed off in the direction of the gym, thinking that he would be there. She was determined to have that Tekkaman combine with her.

Slade held his breath until Jura was out of sight, then let off a relieved sigh. It was a good thing that she hadn't thought about looking up. Though he had no memory of how he had learned the technique, the 'Cling to the Ceiling and Hope No One Looks Up' maneuver had its uses. Once he was certain that the Dread pilot wasn't coming back soon, he released his viselike grip on the ceiling's overhead pipes and conduits, and dropped back down to the floor. He decided to delay his workout as he made a one hundred and eighty degree turn and headed back to his quarters. 

----------

Dita held back her tears as she sat alone in the Bio-Park, gazing at the pool of water. She had made her decision and resolved to stay away from Mr. Alien, no matter how much it hurt her heart to do so. She soon began throwing pebbles into the pond in frustration.

_Why? Why? I only wanted to make him happy! No matter what I do, he never seems to like anything. What am I doing wrong?_

The young girl's thoughts went back to a time during her early childhood, when she had a pet Blue Jay. She had doted on it, and gave it the best care that she could, and yet the poor bird died shortly after she had gotten it.

_Am I caring too much? Will Mr. Alien be like that Blue Jay?_ Dita stiffened at the image of Slade lying dead on the ground and a shiver ran through her very being. She could not bear the thought of him ending like that. Her heart would surely break if that were to happen. _What can I do? What should I do?_

"I thought I'd find you here."

Dita turned to see Gascogne standing behind her.

"Oh, Miss Gasco."

"I told you before, it's Gascogne!" The head supplier stressed as she sat down beside the young Dread pilot.

"Sorry." Dita apologized. "So what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I thought I'd check up on you. I'll bet you were thinking of D-Boy."

"D-Boy?"

Gascogne smirked. "That's what I call Slade. The D is for 'Dangerous.' It's my way of getting back at him for calling me Gasco all the time." 

----------

"What is it with everyone today?! Is it so much to ask for a little space to myself?!"

Pyoro found itself on dangerous ground, as Slade looked ready to reduce the robot to scrap metal. It had simply asked if Slade felt lonely. It had come across the martial artist as he was brooding in his quarters. In his hands was Dita's gift.

"I saw that you were feeling very sad." Pyoro said as it floated near the exit.

"What I feel is none of your business!" Slade growled as he clenched the pillow in one hand.

Pyoro knew that if it wanted to keep its inner mechanisms intact, now was a good time to leave. 

----------

Meanwhile...

"What do you want from me?" Bart asked as he spoke to Jura in her private quarters.

"I want you to help me." Jura replied seductively as she poured the helmsman a glass of wine.

"What kind of help?" Like all men of Tarak, Bart was very suspicious of women and knew that they were sneaky and devious monsters.

"Well, I want to combine with Slade."

"So what's that got to do with me?"

"Well, if you can help me... then I can help you." Jura purred as she began explaining. "You know that I want to combine with Slade, but he doesn't seem to want to cooperate. Now if a certain someone were to convince him to combine with me, then I could help him get more respect aboard this ship."

"Really?" Bart became very interested at this point. Currently, the respect that he commanded aboard the Nirvana was comparable to what one would give to pond scum. 

----------

The Bio-Park...

"I want to change so Mr. Alien would like me better."

The head supplier shook her head. "Why would you want to do that? You're fine the way you are."

"But Mr. Alien always seems to get mad or tries to avoid me."

"Well just remember that every person is different and it takes a while for people to get to know each other."

"But I've seen Parfat and the doctor get along real well and that didn't take long." Dita had seen Duero and the engineer frequently get together to solve problems, both medically and mechanically.

"Well, some relationships take longer than others to grow. In any case, the best thing for you is to be yourself. I'm sure that it will all work out."

Gascogne got up to leave and then gave Dita some parting advice. "I'm sure that D-Boy will come around. It might help if you'd stop calling him Mr. Alien. He's a good sort, though he's one of the worst card players I've ever seen." 

----------

Slade sighed as he continued to brood in his quarters. He began thinking back to how he had acted when Dita had interrupted his training session. It had been a bad time to come barging in, but he shouldn't have been so rough on her. He had scolded and yelled at the pilot for always bothering him, and when Dita had run off in tears, a part of his heart felt like breaking. Seeing tears on a girl always made him feel weak, though he didn't know why. He gazed back at Dita's gift, which was now lying on his bed.

The former Saotome made up his mind and went looking for her. 

----------

"Mr. Alien?"

Slade nodded as he approached her. "Hi."

Dita began to tremble and the Tekkaman noted that she was slowly backing away from him.

"Hold on. I... just want to talk, that's all." Slade held up a hand.

Dita stopped and gave him a puzzled look. This was the first time in which he wanted her to stay. She had also never seen him so... humble.

Slade swallowed hard. He had never been very good with talking to females, especially when it concerned sensitive matters. "I want to say... that I'm sorry... for yelling at you before. And... I'd like to say... thanks, for the pillow."

Dita took in these words, then smiled as she felt her heart rise above its sadness and feel lighter.

_She's really cute when she smiles._ Slade mentally noted then gestured for her to sit with him. 

----------

The two talked quietly as they gazed through the observation window at the stars above. Dita began asking Slade multitudes of questions about him and his travels. She became especially excited upon hearing that there were other human worlds as well as truly alien races.

"Wow! That is so neat! You've been to all these places?"

The Tekkaman nodded. "That's right. There are other worlds that were colonized by humans, besides Tarak and Mejele. Usually, I stayed on a planet for a few days, sometimes up to two weeks, then I would move on."

"What are those other worlds like?"

"Well, there's one planet that was like the desert world we explored with the Vanguards, but it's set like the Old West of Earth. There was a guy that was so dangerous, that the inhabitants put a $$60,000,000,000 reward on his head. If you ask me, Vash was more of a goofball."

"Wow! Tell me more!"

"Well, I've also visited a place called Bob."

"Bob?"

"It was also called New Earth, but the guy who created that planet called it Bob. They used some kind device called the Titan to recreate another Earth."

"Amazing!"

"Yeah, and then there was a planet called Terra II. It's sort of like Tarak, because there were only men. However, they don't consider females as monsters. In fact, they had machines called Marionettes, which looked like women." (1)

"That's great, though I'd really like to see more aliens!"

Slade gave the girl a bit of a whimsical smile. "You sure are crazy about ETs aren't you? Well, I have met several non-human species, though some of them were totally frightened of me, when I transformed into a Tekkaman."

"Why?"

"They wouldn't say, but I kept on hearing the word 'Radam.' I don't know exactly who or what this Radam is, but it sounded vaguely familiar, like I've heard of it before."

As Dita continued to listen to Slade's exploits, she began to feel more relaxed and her perky personality had returned. As she learned more about Mr. Alien, she began to feel something else stirring within her heart. It was a warm feeling and she felt as if she had a kind of spiritual connection to him.

As they conversed, neither one of them noticed that they were slowly closer together. Dita found herself gazing deeply at the gray-blue depths of Slade's eyes. As for Slade, he found the twinkle in her eyes to be quite... kawaii. Then his gaze lowered and stopped at her lips. He could almost feel her warm breath as she exhaled as he...

It was then that the alarm went off, causing the both of them to look out the observation window.

"Oh no! It's the really BAD aliens!"

Slade sighed as he got up. "Oh well, back to work." 

----------

In less than a minute, the Dread squadrons were getting in formation to fight off the latest enemy attack. At the head of the formation, Meia noticed that a certain pilot was missing.

"Where's Jura?" 

----------

In her quarters, Jura and Bart were now abominably drunk.

"Hic! I'll... be... hic... captain of the Nirvana!" Bart declared.

"And... I will... hic... have the most beautiful... form!" Jura added.

The both of them then let off peals of laughter at each other's statements. 

----------

Bursting out of an airlock, Tekkaman Slade joined up with the Dread formations and was soon flying beside Dita's craft.

"Ready to go?" Slade asked.

The girl nodded. "I'm ready Mr. Alien!"

"I wish you'd stop calling me that."

Dita paused for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, D-Boy!"

Slade winced, then said. "On second thought, I think I liked Mr. Alien."

With those words, the two merged into Tekkadread Dita and charged the enemy.

To be continued...

Author's Notes

Yeah, I'll admit that this chapter was a bit short, but at least I showed some interaction between Slade and Dita. I'm not much with heart-warming chapters, but I needed to change up from the violence and craziness that I usually write. Next up, we shall meet up with a certain trouble-making traitor, er trader.

(1) After reading the forums on Glen Harris' page, I thought that crossovers with other series might be a good possibility. So far I've mentioned Saber Marionette, Trigun and Titan AE. Any other suggestions?


	9. Chapter 8: A Punk with a Punch

**TEKKADREAD**

Disclaimer: Don't blame me, I'm just the writer! 

Thoughts: 

**Chapter 8**

**A Punk with a Punch**

The pirate vessel floated near an ancient space station which had been used during the colonization era. The old stations were called Missions and they had been temporary havens for weary travelers and merchant vessels. However, this particular Mission was abandoned and had been nothing more than a derelict hulk by the time the Nirvana came across it. However, the captain had decided to send an exploration and salvage team to the station in the hopes of finding more data on their alien pursuers. At the very least, the females could get a hold of spare parts and supplies. 

Currently, Meia, Jura, Barnette, Dita, Slade, Pegas and Pyoro were aboard the Mission. 

---------- 

Inside the station, Meia was busy removing components from a computer console. Floating nearby was Pyoro. 

"What are you doing?" The robot asked innocently. 

"What does it look like?" The girl replied angrily. 

"It looks like you are looting this place." 

"It's not looting!" 

"It looks like looting to me." 

"Well it's not!" 

"Then what do you call it?" 

"We're just... salvaging raw material, that's all! It's not like this stuff belongs to anyone, so we're just making use of it, that's all!" 

"Oh. Well why didn't you say so?" The robot asked as it floated off to join the others in the search for more material. It soon joined up with Slade as he was busy exploring an old storage facility. 

As Slade wandered about, he began to feel something, just on the edge of his enhanced sense of perception. It wasn't anything dangerous, but he felt as if he was being watched. His body tensed up a bit as he readied himself for anything. At that moment, Pyoro came up to him. 

"What's wrong Slade?" The robot asked. 

"Something's... not right." The Tekkaman began as he looked about his surroundings. His eyes then glanced up and saw something move about in the rafters and support beams above them. He glimpsed a shadow rush across a beam and reacted. "_THERE_!" 

Raising a hand, he let loose with a quick blast of ki which shot out and blasted the support beam. The shadow darted away and then came down to the floor. The explosion caught the attention of the other pirates and they started running toward the source of the disturbance. 

---------- 

"It's a... chimp?" Slade said. 

In actuality, it was an orangutan that was wearing a kind of white dress. Apparently, it was a female. She made some funny noises as she gazed upon the Tekkaman, then let off a happy whoop when it saw Pyoro. In a flash, she rushed at the robot, swept it up and began licking it affectionately. Understandably, the robot was not pleased with the sudden act of slobbering adoration. 

"ACK! HELP! SLADE! HELP ME!" 

Slade was still in a state of confusion when his senses then picked up another presence. This time, he did feel a sensation of danger as he whirled about in a ready stance. That was when he saw... him. 

The man was tall, taller than he was, and had more muscle mass. He was built more along the lines of a body builder, as compared to Slade's gymnastic form. He had a kind of technological eye-patch over his right eye and two green stripes of face paint marking his left cheek. His dark brown hair was slicked back, except for a one long tress that hung out in front, just above a jewel on his forehead. He wore clothes that were reminiscent of the native American people, and seemed to carry himself with a confidence that mirrored the Tekkaman's. However, it was coupled with a kind of sneakiness that made Slade feel uneasy. 

The stranger didn't even seem to notice Slade and he gazed at the simian that was pawing the Nirvana's mascot. In a deep, voice, he called out to the ape. "Utan!" 

The orangutan looked up and nodded to her master. She ran up to his side, with Pyoro in her arms. 

"What's that you've got there?" The man asked his ape companion. 

Utan smiled as she held up the now drenched Pyoro. The stranger took on a nasty smile as he assessed his new property. "Well, now... I'd say that this thing would fetch us some fast cash... once we strip it down of course." 

Utan shook her head and held Pyro close to her. 

At this point, Slade decided to come to Pyoro's rescue. "Put him down!" 

The man looked back to Slade. "Excuse me?" 

"I said... put him down!" 

The man gazed down at his opponent and snorted a bit. Slade looked a lot younger than he actually was. Though he appeared as a teenager between the ages of seventeen and eighteen, he was actually over five hundred years old, due to the time he had spent in the Tekkapod. Furthermore, his frame didn't really look like it belonged to a fighter and the stranger decided that Slade was nothing more than a cocky little punk. He was bigger and stronger than this small fry. 

"Well?" Slade demanded as he shifted his stance a bit. 

The man snorted again and said, "Hey, it's finders-keepers. Utan found him, so that makes him mine. Why should I listen to a snot-nosed punk?" 

"What did you call me?" Slade felt his temper rise a bit at the punk reference. However, he was quite familiar with such tactics. Often an enemy would insult his opponent to get him to lose his temper and become more careless. It was after all, a standard tactic in the Anything Goes. Slade wasn't going to fall for it. 

"So you don't like what I just called you?" The man taunted a bit. "Well, then..." He then got into a ready stance of his own. "Why don't you come over here and teach me some manners?" He gave Slade a smug grin. "If you can." 

Slade assessed his opponent's stance. _Hmmm, he's got some experience. He's probably a street fighter and wouldn't hesitate to cheat._ He made note of whatever weapons the man had on him. He caught a glimpse of a boot knife, as well as a holster. 

"Well come on." The stranger taunted. "If you can beat me, then I'll take back what I just called you and give you this robot too." 

Slade weighed his options. It wasn't that he could not defeat this man. With his skills and powers, the Tekkaman could easily obliterate him. However, there was Pyoro to think of. The robot was annoying, but it was an ally and a part of the Nirvana's crew, so he had to take its safety into account. 

At that moment, the others came onto the scene. 

"Mr. Alien!" 

Slade glanced over his shoulder and saw Dita and Meia running up to him. On the other side, Jura and Barnette also ran towards them. With that slight distraction, the stranger took advantage of his situation. Quickly snatching Pyoro, he threw it toward Slade's head. However, the Tekkaman sensed the danger, then ducked. Pyoro went sailing over his head and ended up hitting someone else. Meia went sprawling as the mechanical mascot hit her in the face. 

The stranger then lunged at Slade while drawing his knife. Taking a hostage would give him a bit of an edge and since Slade was the closest... 

However, the former Saotome wasn't going to be anyone's hostage. Just as the man reached out to grab him, Slade swerved to avoid the arm then shot a rabbit punch to the man's throat. He didn't put much force into the blow, but no matter how strong a person was, a hit in that area always hurt. 

The stranger gasped as he suddenly felt himself choking for air. His grip on his knife loosened and the weapon was knocked away by Slade's follow-up kick. Grabbing the still extended arm, Slade tossed the man over his shoulder and slammed him to the floor, causing him to make a dull, metallic clang. 

The stranger was about to get up and attack again, but a laser beam shot out and burned a hole in the floor just a few inches from the right side of his face. That stopped him cold.

"DON'T MOVE!" Meia warned as she held her laser-ring at the ready. 

The stranger saw that he was in a very bad spot. Meia was in perfect position to end his life with one shot. Jura and Barnette came up to back up their comrade. He glanced over to where Slade was standing and scowled at being thrown by that punk. _He just got lucky._ He then raised his hands in a non-threatening gesture. He also nodded to Utan, signaling to her that she should not try to attack. 

"Now who are you? What are you doing here?" Meia demanded. 

The man shrugged as he replied. "The name's Rabat, and I suppose I'm here for the same reasons you are." 

Slade suddenly stiffened when he heard the name. It sounded familiar, as he was sure that he had come across the name before. He tried to recall where he had heard of the name during his planet-hopping days, before he had joined up with Magno's crew. 

"What are you talking about?" Meia asked. 

"You're here to loot this abandoned Mission, just like I am, right?" Rabat responded. 

Pyoro floated up to Meia. "I thought you said that this was just salvage?" 

Meia was about to retort to the machine, when there was a sudden explosion which rocked the entire station. Meia then received a message from Buzom, informing her that they were now under attack by the enemy. 

---------- 

Outside of the Mission, the Nirvana's Dread teams were already fighting the groups of Cube Fighters that had just suddenly appeared from out of nowhere. As the battle began to get intense, several dots of light shot from the space station. Meia and the other Dread pilots had quickly scrambled to aid their comrades, leaving their prisoner and his simian companion to fend for themselves. 

In the station, Rabat saw this as an excellent opportunity to make his escape. He motioned for Utan to follow him to their ship, which was docked in a hanger bay on the other side of the station. As they ran toward their vessel, Rabat smiled as he saw what was in Utan's arms. In their haste to join the battle, they had forgotten something. 

---------- 

As Rabat guided his ship out of the hanger, he was greeted by a storm of lasers and missile trails as the pirates and their opponents exchanged fire. His ship's scanners then picked up some new type of alien fighters that came out of the MIssion and headed toward the Nirvana. The trader shrugged. It seemed as if he wasn't surprised by the arrival of the newest weapon in the aliens' arsenal. What appeared next took him completely off guard. 

A flash of emerald light caught his attention and his eyes widened as he beheld the punk that had thrown him undergo a starling transformation. His body was stripped of clothes, then that light suddenly became armor which fused to his body. Another flash of light was seen and Slade was then darting about the enemy forces, cutting them to pieces with a bladed weapon. A strange machine then burst from the station to join up with the Tekkaman. The mecha didn't fit any profile in Rabat's tactical computer, though it resembled the Vanguards of the planet Tarak. It began transforming as it neared its partner. 

The Tekkaman and Tekkabot came together and were engulfed in a blinding aura of power which turned them into a comet of destruction. They plowed through the enemy like a bull through a China shop. After making several passes through the alien ranks and lessening their numbers, the Tekkaman leapt off Pegas and continued to tear into the enemy. 

As Rabat watched in awe, his devious mind began to work. This could prove to be very profitable... 

---------- 

As Slade polished off his latest targets, he found himself being continually pestered by a couple of Dread pilots. Jura's fighter came alongside of him. 

"Well now, shall we combine, my little Tekkaman?"

"NO WAY!" Dita cried out as she cut in front of Jura. 

Slade couldn't stop his forward momentum in time and the two became Tekkadread Dita. 

"HEY! HE WAS MINE!" The blonde pilot shouted out. 

Dita responded by giving her the Japanese Red Eye. "You snooze, you lose!" 

"I WON'T FORGET THIS!" 

Slade sighed and decided that as long as he was in control of the Tekkadread's awesome firepower, he may as well take out the source of the new enemy craft. Swinging the huge, shoulder cannons into position, he aimed, then focused his powers into the systems. 

The cannons let loose with twin beams of destruction, which merged together and formed one massive wave that obliterated the entire space station. All that was left were a few scraps of debris. 

---------- 

Rabat's jaw dropped to his console. Then he grinned even more evilly. _I think I just hit the mother lode._

It was then that his ship rocked from some explosions. Looking at his tactical scanners, he saw that he was surrounded by the remaining enemy fighters. 

"Oop chee!" Utan pleaded as she looked at her partner with soulful eyes. 

"Oh all right. Go ahead." Rabat said with a sigh. 

The ape happily went off to a section behind the pilot's cabin. A minute later, a hatch on top of Rabat's craft opened up and a monstrous-looking mecha emerged. Inside it, Utan smiled as she held out two manipulators and pressed the firing mechanisms. 

The machine let loose with a murderous storm of missiles, bullets, cannon and laser shots at the swarms of alien craft. The enemy ships were blown apart as the simian fired with glee. For two minutes, she continued shooting at anything that moved, chopping the enemy to pieces. Finally, she let off a contented sigh and relaxed as the arms of the mecha lowered. 

On the bridge, Rabat let off an irritated growl as he saw that Utan had once again exhausted the ship's ordinance and ammunition. 

Damn_! There goes last week's profits!_

---------- 

A few minutes later, the bridge of the Nirvana made contact with the other vessel as Magno came face to face with Rabat. Beside her were her first officer, Dita and Slade.

"Thanks to you guys, my ship received some engine damage!" Rabat complained. 

"And you're expecting us to help you?" Magno asked. 

"I should think so." Rabat said as-a-matter-of-factly. 

Magno snorted at the audacity of the man. "We're pirates and we only look out for ourselves." 

Rabat smirked while shrugging, then help up something. "Oh well. I guess that means that I can keep this, right?" 

Dita gasped as she saw that in their hurry to fight the enemy, they had forgotten about Pyoro. 

Magno sighed as she nodded. "He is part of our crew." She then addressed Rabat. "Very well then, you may come aboard." 

---------- 

_Rabat... I know I've heard that name before. Just where was it?_ Slade thought as he watched the so-called trader peddle his wares to the other members of the female crew. His apparent charm and the glittery trinkets that he offered for sale took in many of the females. He also hinted that he knew about the relationships between men and women, which made him seem even more intriguing to the female pirates. Even the levelheaded Parfat couldn't resist Rabat's apparent generosity, when he gave her a power coupling that was supposed to dramatically increase the Paksis' energy output. Paiway tried to impress the trader by using the free samples of make-up, but Rabat said for her to wait another five years. 

At that point, Meia walked up to Slade's side with the same suspicious expression on her face. She was a bit disgusted at how some of her own comrades were fawning over the newcomer. 

"I don't trust him." She said simply. 

Slade snorted a bit. "For once... I agree. There's just something about him that turns my stomach. I think he knows more about our enemy than he's letting on. I mean, he wasn't too surprised or concerned when we were attacked. I'd trust him about as far as I could throw him."

Meia allowed herself a slight smile. "That would be quite a distance." 

Slade chuckled a bit. "It would be. But aside from that, I know I've heard his name somewhere before." 

"You have?" 

"Yeah. Like I told Dita, I did a lot of planet hopping before ending up on the Ikazuchi, and I know that..." It was then that Slade swore-snapped his fingers. "That's it! I remember now! Zervin!" 

"Huh?" 

Slade didn't bother to explain as he saw that Rabat had disappeared. He then went off looking for him. 

---------- 

Rabat shook himself a bit as he came to where the three transformed Dreads and Vanguards were stored. He had just encountered Buzom as he went to check on his ship. Though the first officer was very attractive, there was just something about her that was... off. 

As he entered the area, he smiled as he spied the Tekkabot, which was currently dormant as it recharged its power cells. The trader had a hunch that the mecha was related to the power that he had witnessed earlier. However, as he approached it, someone was present to block his path. 

---------- 

Slade had just come onto the scene when he witnessed Dita barring Rabat's way to Pegas. 

"No! This is Mr. Alien's partner!" Dita said while shaking her head and spreading her arms out wide. 

"Aw, c'mon! I just want to have a look at it." Rabat said in his smoothest tone.

"No!" 

"Not even one little peek?" Rabat smiled as he leaned forward and brought his face close to hers. 

Slade felt a twinge of anger at the trader. He didn't like people like Rabat and Dita was just too pure and innocent to be near such a person. Just as Rabat was about to kiss her, he called out to her. 

"HEY!" 

Dita was snapped back to reality as she glanced over to the hanger entrance and saw Slade. 

"Mr. Alien!"

Slade nodded, not at all annoyed at the 'Mr. Alien' name, this time. "You'd better stay from him. You'll never know what kind of disease you can pick up from space vermin." 

Rabat turned to face his rival, then snorted at the 'vermin' reference. "Oh? And who are you to tell her who she should associate with, punk?" 

Slade was not at all affected by Rabat's attempt to rile him. "Let's just say that I think she could do way better than a walking compost heap like you." 

"Ooh... is that a threat or a challenge?" 

"Take as it you please." Slade shrugged as he began walking toward him. "Do you remember a planet called Zervin?" 

Rabat cocked his head in mock thought, then shrugged. "That sounds... vaguely familiar. I might have done business there." 

"Bullshit!" Slade growled as he stopped to within ten feet of the trader. "You sold one of their colonies an experimental water purifier and nearly half of their population got sick from bacterial contamination!" 

Rabat shrugged again. "Hey. I sold it to them cheap. They got what they paid for." 

"What they paid for was a _STOLEN_ item!" Slade shot back. "That purifier had come from a manufacturing plant on Talana, and the engineers hadn't worked out all bugs in the filtration system before you took it. I guess your conscience was on vacation when you offered it to that colony, knowing full well that people could have died. It was a lucky thing that I came along and helped them find a source of fresh water before they all became diseased! But it didn't matter to you, did it? All you cared about was lining your pockets with the hard-earned money of a poor planet!" 

By this time, several of the Nirvana crew came to the scene, including Meia, Jura, Barnette and some members of the Warrior Squadron. 

"Hmpf! Don't go telling me on how to run my own business." Rabat didn't like Slade's attitude, then saw that this was an opportune moment for profit. "I just make the best deals that I can to eke out a living. And right now, I see a very good chance of doubling my profit margins." 

"What are you talking about?" 

Rabat gestured to Pegas. "I like this machine. I think that it would make very tidy sum, once I have its systems analyzed. However, I know that you would never sell it, so how about I suggest a kind of challenge?" 

"Challenge?" 

"Yes. We never did get to have our little fight back at the Mission, and I wondered just how much I could pound on a punk like you. So how's about it? If I win, then I get this machine." 

"And if I win?" 

Rabat smirked confidently. There was just no way this punk could beat him. "If by some miracle you beat me, then I'll give you some information that you might find interesting." 

"Like what?" 

"Oh, like some data about the aliens that you're fighting against, plus a few other little tidbits. Interested?" 

Slade considered the scum in front of him. It was obvious that he knew more about the aliens than he was telling and new data about them would be welcomed. However, Rabat was someone that one should keep on his guard about. It was very likely that he was going to cheat. With a slow nod, the Tekkaman went into a battle stance. "You're on." 

_Sucker._ Rabat thought as he was looking forward to selling Pegas to the highest bidder. However, he was about to learn not to count his chickens before they hatched. 

A quiet silence fell over the hanger. 

---------- 

"Shouldn't we stop this Captain?" Buzom asked as she and the rest of the bridge crew watched the main monitor at the scene that was unfolding. 

Magno paused for a moment before shaking her head. "No. I think that this may be an opportunity for us to learn a few things. Not just about our enemy but also about Slade." 

---------- 

The two faced each other off, neither one of them moving an inch since the gauntlet had been thrown down. Their eyes locked with each other as each combatant waited for the other to make a move. Deciding to end the stalemate, Slade charged forward and cocked back a fist. 

Rabat smirked. His opponent talked a big fight, but he was nothing more than a reckless amateur. He immediately countered by shifting his weight to the left and drew his right knee up, fully expecting it to slam into Slade's chest. However, he hit... empty air? 

Before he knew it, Slade had somehow ended up on his left side. The Tekkaman had feinted one way, then changed direction so fast, that Rabat had not caught the movement until it was too late. Just as he turned his head, his face was introduced to a five-knuckle sandwich. 

_**THWACK! **_

Rabat felt as if a sledgehammer had hit him, as he was sent flying back more than fifteen feet. He hit the hanger deck hard on his back and skidded another six feet before coming to rest. The front of his face throbbed with pain, and when he reached up to touch it, he felt even more pain shooting up between his eyes. A large, purple bruise was forming as a trickle of blood ran down to his chin. That one punch by itself had broken his nose. His eyes furrowed in anger as he looked up at Slade. The martial artist wasn't even feeling any sting in his fist. 

_Damn! Since when could a snot-nosed punk hit that hard?!_

The crowds of females gasped after seeing Slade floor a man that was bigger and weighed more than he did. The members of the Warrior Squadron looked on with interest. They had always suspected that he went easier on them during their training sessions, and they wanted to see just what their leader was capable of. 

Slade remained standing with his arm extended and his fist held out. Then slowly, he resumed a neutral stance with his hands behind his back. He simply waited to Rabat to stagger to his feet. 

"Why you little shit!" Rabat cursed as he tensed up to attack. 

Slade shrugged as he made a 'come here' gesture with his right index finger, daring him to attack. "Well?" 

Rabat became even more infuriated at this punk's attitude and lack of being intimidated, as he charged in and threw a punch at Slade's head. However, Slade's head simply shifted to the right, causing the fist to miss by scant millimeters. 

"Too slow." 

Rabat followed through with several fast jabs and uppercuts, but the Tekkaman moved with such precision and speed, that each attack was dodged by only the tiniest of fractions. Slade didn't even move from the spot he was standing on, as he swerved, twisted, turned and leaned out of the way of each attempt to hit him. Then he attacked. 

_**WHOMP! **_

Rabat was so focused on trying to hit Slade, that he was totally unprepared when his opponent slammed a fist into his solar plexus, driving the breath out of him. He doubled over, and then was knocked back up after Slade brought up a knee to connect with Rabat's chin. Just as he came back up, the cosmic warrior hopped up and delivered a reverse spin-kick. The foot connected with the trader's right cheek with a wet crack, and Rabat was sent flying again, this time landing twenty feet away. 

Meia was more than impressed. It was no wonder that Slade had thrown her so easily and defeated Xian Pu. Apparently, he wasn't too dependent on his powers as a Tekkaman. She also suspected that he was still holding back. Dita was also in awe at Mr. Alien and wondered if he could teach her how to do that. 

By now, Rabat was enraged as he got up for a second time. He had thought he had this fight in the bag, but the punk had already broken his nose and cheek. He decided to change tactics as Slade began slowly advancing on him. 

"If this is all you're capable of," Slade said. "then you'd better give up now. There's only so much that I can do to your face." 

_Keep coming and talking, you little smart-ass. Just a little closer..._ Rabat tensed up as Slade closed the distance between them. When he got to within striking distance, the eye that was under the trader's eye patch twitched, activating a hidden trigger. 

The eye patch instantly let loose with a flare of light which caught Slade off guard for a moment. As he turned away to shield his eyes, Rabat was on his feet and charging forward. He cocked back a fist and threw it forward. In the instant before it hit Slade, some green-white lines appeared on the Tekkaman's face. When the fist made solid contact, Rabat felt an instant of satisfaction. Then... 

_**CRACK! **_

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHH!" 

Slade simply turned his cheek to dilute the force of the blow, then faced at his opponent again. Rabat was now clutching at his injured left hand. Aside from a minor bruise forming on his cheek, the Tekkaman had suffered no damage. In the instant before the fist had impacted, his Tekkacircuits had instinctively powered up and made that area of Slade's face as hard as steel. 

"What's the matter Rabat? Crying over a broken hand? Don't worry. You're going to have a lot more to cry about." Slade continued walking up to him. With one hand, he grabbed Rabat by the front of his tunic and hoisted him up off the floor of the hanger, as easily as if he were lifting a rag doll. His eyes took on a dangerous glint as he glared at his adversary. "By the way, that was your only free shot." 

Slade then kicked him hard in the gut, then slammed him into a nearby wall, making a slight depression in the metal alloys. He let the scumbag slide down to the floor and stepped back a bit. "A lot of kids got sick from that piece of crap that you sold on Zervin. Now the fair thing would be to demand a refund. But since you've probably already spent what you cheated out of those people, I guess the only thing to do is to take it out of your pathetic hide." 

Rabat gritted his teeth as he staggered to his feet. His body was in pain like he had never felt before. That bastard was going to pay for this! At that moment, his right hand slipped into a pocket on his vest, then pulled something out. 

"MR. ALIEN! WATCH OUT!" 

Time seemed to slow down to a snail's pace as Dita ran to get between Slade and Rabat. Slade saw the glint of a muzzle and reacted, moving forward to push the girl out of the way before Rabat fired the small blaster that he had in his hand. A pencil thin beam of light lanced out, aimed directly for Slade's heart. However, he managed to twist out of the way and the beam struck through his right shoulder. However, Dita also screamed out as the beam pierced through her own shoulder as well. 

"DITA!" 

Meia cried out as she and Jura ran to help their fallen comrade. The others who were watching immediately went into a state of shock. 

As Slade saw Dita go down, something within him snapped. Dita had always been a pain and somewhat of a nuisance, but the Tekkaman had gotten used to her constant presence and always-cheerful attitude. Without a second thought, she had tried to save him and was hurt because of it. At that point, the normally disciplined Slade lost it. 

"YOU... RAT BASTARD!" 

Before Rabat could even blink, Slade was in front of him. He tried to bring his weapon to bear, but Slade's right hand immediately clamped onto it and applied pressure. Both the weapon and Rabat's hand were crushed as the sound of popping metal, snapping plastic, and the mangling of bone and tendons were heard. Rabat screamed out again, but his cry of pain was cut short as his opponent slammed a fist into his gut again. 

_**WHOMP! **_

"YOU HURT HER!" 

He then twisted the arm he was holding and sent a hard strike to the shoulder joint, causing a loud pop to be heard when the arm bone was forced from its socket. Rabat screamed out again. 

"YOU SCUM!" 

Slade delivered three more hits to the abdomen, making the trader cough up blood. Then he let loose with a flurry of punches and kicks, causing even more bones to buckle and break as Rabat was introduced to a new level of pain. He then thrust out with an open palm and slammed the con artist into the wall again. The man's body made an even deeper impression this time and a loud crack was heard. Rabat now found himself pinned to the wall and at Slade's mercy. 

Slade wanted to kill this man. He would feel absolutely no remorse if he were to end this scumbag's life. However, just as he cocked back his other hand and balled it up into a fist, he heard a voice of reason.

"SLADE!"

The Tekkaman stopped as he looked over his shoulder and saw the captain and her first officer standing at the hanger entrance. 

"It's over Slade. You've won, and Dita will be all right. There's no point in continuing this." The aged woman stated. 

The martial artist felt some of the anger beginning to fade, as control started to reassert himself. He let off a final growl and removed his hand from Rabat's chest, letting him drop to the floor in a broken heap. Seeing that the man was still conscious, he said, "I've won. Now, about that information? Or should I just pick it off your corpse?" 

Rabat snarled at the punk, but reached into another hidden pocket, fumbled around, then took out an information module. It was hard for him with the current state of his hands. He weakly threw it on the floor at Slade's feet. 

"Damn you! Here... take it!" Rabat spat out. Droplets of blood also shot from his mouth and stained the floor of the hanger. 

Slade picked up the cube, then glared back down at the man he had nearly killed. "Two minutes." 

"W-W-What?" Rabat gasped. 

"You've got exactly two minutes to haul your stinking carcass off this ship. If you're not off this ship by that time, then I'll kick it out the nearest airlock." 

The con man tried to get to his feet, but his injuries made that task impossible. It was a lucky thing that Utan came about while she chased Pyoro. When she saw her master in such a shape, she immediately abandoned her pursuit and came to his side. Using her to brace himself, Rabat started limping toward the exit. Before he departed, he scowled back at Slade. 

"I won't forget this, you little punk!" 

"I won't let you forget." Slade replied. 

Rabat snorted. "Hah! You talk big, but you're just using someone else's words." 

That final barb stirred something in Slade as the man and his ape left the Nirvana. 

---------- 

A few minutes later... 

"Captain, don't go after him." Slade warned. "He's not worth it." 

However, Slade's words seemed to fall on deaf ears as Magno had ordered the Nirvana to begin pursuing the trader and rob him of everything he had. They were pirates after all. However, just as they were about to catch up to him, the ship's engine core suddenly let off an explosion, causing the vessel to drop out of hyperspace. 

In the engineering section, Parfat started cursing as she realized that the power coupling that Rabat had given to her was nothing more than bootleg junk. The ship would require major repairs and by the time Parfat's crew had the engines back online, Rabat would be long gone. 

---------- 

Later that night, Slade sat alone in the Bio-Park, watching the large pool before him and contemplating a few things. The information cube had been given to Parfat, but since it was encoded, it would take some time to decipher the data stored on it. 

"Mr. Alien?" 

Slade didn't answer Dita as he continued to stare at the water. 

The young Dread pilot went to him and stopped just behind him. Slade looked over his shoulder and nodded at her bandaged shoulder. 

"Are you okay? How's the shoulder?" 

The redhead nodded as she replied. "The doctor said that my shoulder is going to be a bit stiff for a few days, but it'll be all right. Though... I'm going to have a scar." 

Slade shook his head as he stood up and faced her. Reaching out with a hand and placing it gently on her injured shoulder, he began summoning up his aura. "No, I don't think that you'd look good with a scar. Here." 

Dita's eyes widened as the Slade fed his ki into her body and the throbbing pain that she had been feeling faded away. A minute later, he let his aura power down, then with a deft movement of the hand, he removed the bindings to Dita's shoulder. The girl looked down and gasped as she saw warm, unblemished skin. 

"Wow! That was amazing! You're really cool, Mr. Alien! Thank you!" 

Slade shrugged as he tossed the bandages away. "It was something that I picked up during my wanderings. I can heal some physical damage to a person's body using my ki. It takes a bit out of me, but it was worth it." 

She then gazed at Slade's own shoulder, which had also been treated by Duero. "What about you?" 

"Nah. I decided to let it heal by itself and keep the scar... as a reminder." 

He then sighed as turned around and went back to gazing out at the artificial lake. 

"Mr. Alien? What do you mean?" 

Slade sighed again. He had really wanted to be alone, but he also felt the need to talk to someone. "Rabat was scum, but he was right about one thing." 

"Huh?" 

The Tekkaman paused for a long time, then responded. "I am using other people's words. I don't have any words to say for myself, because... I don't know myself. I can't remember if I had any family, I don't have any memories of growing up... heck, I don't even know when my birthday is or how old I am. All I know is that I am Slade. But... even that doesn't sound totally right. Just who am I? How did I get these powers? Where did I learn to fight? Who taught me? It... seems like I'm living someone else's life, yet I know that it's mine. I... just don't know." 

---------- 

Out in space... 

Rabat gritted his teeth as he read the scanner's readout. The profits he had made from trading with the pirates wouldn't cover half the cost of healing his injuries. He had been set back... a _LOT_! 

His injuries included a broken nose (in two places), a fractured cheek, dislocated right shoulder, five broken metacarpals in his right hand, three in his left, three broken ribs on his left side and two fractured on his right. His right arm had also sustained a hairline crack along the ulna. There was some internal damage to his spleen. He had suffered a fractured left femur after being slammed into the wall of the Nirvana's hanger. It would take him at least three months to recover, despite the advanced medical equipment that he had bought, cheated and stolen from others. 

"That little... _PUNK_ is going to pay for this!" Rabat swore as he went for some painkillers. 

---------- 

When Parfat finally decoded Rabat's data cube, what she read on it made her shiver. The aliens were indeed after them and were intent on harvesting their vital organs. What they had found on that desert world was only the tip of the iceberg. Several other human worlds were targeted, including Mejele and Tarak. For the male and female planets, it was their reproductive organs that they were after. The enemy considered the entire human race as nothing more than a crop to be harvested. 

The engineer swallowed hard as she prepared to give her report to the captain. 

To be continued... 

Author's notes 

Well, as expected, Rabat didn't come out of this as well as he did in Vandread. Personally, I hate him and I feel that he got off too easy in the original series. As I stated before, there will be some major changes in Tekkadread as compared to Vandread. As for what I have planned next, well wait and see! 


	10. Chapter 9: Jura's Magnificent Form?

**TEKKADREAD**

Disclaimer: Are you sure about this? 

: Thoughts 

**Chapter 9**

**Jura's Magnificent Form?**

The Nirvana's main monitor displayed a planet with a surface that was covered almost entirely by water. The captain and her first officer were reading the data on the planet. 

"The planet's atmosphere is composed of a nitrogen/oxygen mix that is suitable for sustaining human life." Buzom stated. "There is a landmass in the northern hemisphere and were are detecting a small city on it. Under the water we're also detecting the remains of a colony ship."

Magno nodded as she considered the world below. "What do you think, BC? Shall we say hello to them?" 

At that moment, the alarms went off as Ezra announced that the enemy was nearby. 

"Sensors have detected several ships coming around from the other side of the planet!" 

"Can you identify them?" The first mate asked.

"There seems to be around thirty Cube-Type Fighters, and one large machine... I can't make out exactly what it is." 

---------- 

Coming out around the planet's curve was an alien craft that was about the size of the Nirvana. It resembled some kind of grotesque tulip with a stem. Buzzing about its surface were several of the mechanical octopi or Cube Fighters that the space pirates were familiar with. At that moment, the presence of the Nirvana was detected, which made the machines go into their preprogrammed routines and attacked. 

---------- 

"All hands to battle stations!" Magno barked into the communications. 

---------- 

Just as Slade came barreling out of his quarters, he was suddenly stopped in his tracks by a bright flash of light. He squinted to see what was blocking his path. 

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" 

The shrill laughter sent a slight shiver down his spine as he saw the curvaceous silhouette of a certain Dread Pilot. Behind Jura was Barnette, who happened to be holding up a camcorder. Apparently, they had set up the strobe lights in advance for this occasion, as they knew that he would be heading to the airlock that was nearest to his quarters. 

"Do you get it now? Today you shall definitely be combining that magnificent armor with me!" Jura declared while striking the most elegant pose she could muster. She glanced to her partner and smiled. "Well, how was that?" 

Barnette gave her an okay signal. "Perfect!" 

Slade growled as he made a one hundred and eighty-degree turn and took an alternate route to another airlock. 

"Hey! I'm not finished yet!" Jura cried out then turned to her partner. "All right then, we'll go to stage two!" 

Barnette let off a tired sigh. "Right." 

---------- 

Out in space... 

After transforming into a Tekkaman, Slade began darting about in space, fighting alongside the Dread Fighters. Pegas was unavailable at the time, since it undergoing the process of modification and maintenance. The other members of the Vanguard squadron were currently working at their original posts in Gascogne's Register and the Dread maintenance crews. Slade didn't think much of it. They were only dealing with thirty Cube Fighters and one big machine. If worse came to worse, he could always combine with Dita or Meia's Dreads. It was then that he noticed that the Cube Fighters were more agile than before. Some were actually managing to dodge the first few slashes that he made at them with his lance. This made the Tekkaman work a bit harder to destroy them. 

_They've gotten better._ Slade thought. 

One Cube Fighter managed to tag him in the back with some strafing shots, but was destroyed a moment later from behind. Jura's Dread swooped alongside the Tekkaman.

"Well, are we ready to unite now?" She said smugly. 

At that moment, another Cube Fighter came down toward them. 

"Mr. Alien! Watch out!" 

Dita's fighter flashed onto the scene and took out the foe before it could open up. 

The younger pilot blew Slade a kiss from her cockpit. "If you're going to combine, do it with me, okay?" 

Slade let off an irritated snarl as his thrusters fired. "Will you just knock it off?!" He shot out into a swarm of enemy mecha and began slashing away. Five units were cut to pieces and that was when he triggered his next attack. 

_TRANSFORMING TO TEKKAMAN BATTLE MODE!_

Once again, his armor shifted into a more dynamic form and became enveloped in a nimbus of light, causing him to become a human comet. He flashed in and out of the enemy formations, blasting any that collided into him or was too close. Ten more Cube Fighters were obliterated as Slade streaked toward the main machine. When he came close enough, he shifted back into his regular configuration, opened up the Voltekker Units on his shoulders and prepared to fire. He figured that one full power blast down the front would be enough. 

However, in that split-second, three Cube Fighters attacked him en masse and began dragging him down toward the planet's surface. 

"Mr. Alien!" Dita cried out as she tried to go in and assist, but several more enemy units began engaging her and Meia, blocking them from aiding their comrade. Only one Dread Fighter got through the blockade and dove down toward the falling Tekkaman. 

Since the Dreads were not intended for trans-atmospheric flight, Jura was putting herself at serious risk. However, she showed no concern as she plunged toward her intended target. "Barnette! Are you getting this on tape?" She asked as her Dread began heating up from the friction of reentry. 

"You're asking me at a time like this?!" Barnette replied. 

Further down in the planet's atmosphere, Slade's armor became even hotter. However, he wasn't worried since he had experienced reentry before during his travels, and his armor was heat-resistant enough to survive being inside a solar prominence. Furthermore, he was pretty certain that he would survive the impact, though at the speed he was going, it would make little difference whether he hit land or water. Two of the three Cube Fighters exploded from the heat as he continued to fall like a blazing meteor. Several more fighters followed, with their heat shields on. 

Up above and catching up rapidly was Jura's Dread. Oblivious to the danger she was putting herself into by diving into the atmosphere at such a high angle, the blonde pilot's gaze fixated on her goal. 

"Now show me! The Third Stage!" 

Just as the two were about three miles above the planet's surface, they were enveloped in a bright flare of light. Then they hit the water with tremendous impact, sending a huge geyser shooting upward and shockwaves that could be felt for miles around. The Cube Fighters that had followed them down, stopped to hover above the ocean and waited for the two to surface in whatever new form their merging had caused. 

High above in orbit, everyone else apprehensively waited as well. 

---------- 

On the Nirvana's bridge... 

"They've crashed in the ocean at about five miles from that island-city." Ezra said. 

"Jura! Slade! Are you all right? Do you copy?" Buzom called out on communications. However, there was no response. Then, it happened... 

---------- 

Suddenly, the ocean's surface broke as several objects shot upwards. They were eight, large gravity-repulsor discs which rotated above the point where Jura and Slade had splashed down. Then something huge surfaced. 

The new Tekkadread was... odd. It had two extending limbs with pincers and winglike projections on each side. Out in front was a larger disc and the aft sections were raised. The circle of smaller discs came down to rotate vertically in front of the new machine. All in all, it looked like a giant... 

---------- 

"Crab?" One of the bridge crew said as they all saw Tekkadread Jura on the Nirvana's main monitor. 

Out in her Dread, Barnette could only stare at her own viewscreen. Jura was not going to be happy. Still, she brought out her camcorder and began filming. 

----------

Down on the planet... 

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! THIS CAN'T BE MINE!!!" The blonde Dread pilot screamed as she saw through a monitor at what her Dread had become. She started to become hysterical. 

Slade looked about and found that he was again in his human form, and was now sitting in a circular cockpit. Both he and Jura were in separate seats and were opposite to each other. Between them, was a round console and a holographic projection globe. 

_Well... at least this one isn't as perverted as the last two._ Slade winced as he remembered the sitting positions in Dita and Meia's Tekkadreads. 

At that moment, the Cube Fighters started attacking. 

Inside the craft, Slade began looking over the controls, trying to find the weapons on the merged Dread. Opposite to him, Jura continued to wail away. 

"This is so uncool! WAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" 

"WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP?! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! COUNTERATTACK!!" Slade shouted as the Teknodread took several direct hits. Fortunately, in its transformed state, the hull of Jura's fighter had become even stronger than Slade's Tekkaman armor. 

"WAAAAAAHHHHH! IT'S SO HIDEOUS! CHANGE IT BACK!" 

In a fit of frustration and anguish, she hit the console with both hands. In doing so, she had touched a control button, which caused the Tekkadread to fire its maneuvering thrusters at full throttle. The craft suddenly rocketed backward, leaving a jet wash, which swamped a couple of the Cube Fighters. 

---------- 

"This is bad." BC said as she watched Slade and Jura's machine and the direction it was going. "They're heading straight for that island colony." 

"What about Meia and Dita?" Magno asked. 

Ezra shook her head. "They're still engaging the enemy." 

---------- 

Slade had found out that the chairs that he and Jura were sitting in were capable of moving about in the cockpit. This gave both operators access to all the controls on the panels. He began swerving about, randomly pressing buttons in the hopes that he would find the weapon systems. Every now and then, he would shove Jura aside to get at some controls. Meanwhile, Jura screamed hysterically and showed no signs of stopping. Outside, the enemy continued to fire on them. 

"WHERE THE HELL ARE THE WEAPONS ON THIS THING?!" 

"I DON'T WANT THIS ANY MORE!" 

"IF YOU'VE GOT TIME TO COMPLAIN, THEN YOU CAN HELP ME LOOK FOR THE WEAPONS!" 

"WAAAHHH! WHY DID I GET STUCK WITH THIS?! IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ELEGANT!" 

"WILL YOU JUST SHUT THE (censored) UP AND LOOK FOR THE WEAPONS?!" 

"LET ME OFF!" 

"STOP SHOOTING YOUR MOUTH OFF AND SHOOT AT THE ENEMY!" 

The Tekkadread suddenly came to a stop some two hundred yards from the shoreline of the island as Slade noticed a control lever on the right side of his chair. He decided to try it. Grasping it firmly, he pushed it forward. 

The arms of the Tekkadread suddenly came alive and started swinging about. Two of the Cube Fighters were swatted like flies and exploded after being hit. 

_At least I know what that does._ Slade shrugged as he tried to get at the other enemy units with the pincers. However, the other Cube-Types stayed out of reach and continued to fire. Seeing that he wasn't getting anywhere, the male half of Tekkadread Jura looked about for other weapons. 

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! I WANTED SOMETHING ELEGANT! I DESERVE TO HAVE SOMETHING ELEGANT!" 

"WILL YOU JUST SHUT THE HELL UP?!" In frustration, Slade slammed a fist on a button that he hadn't tried before. 

Now that particular button _DID_ control a weapon. The discs that had been rotating in front of the machine flew up to hover horizontally above the craft. The largest disc flew up to hover above its counterparts. It then released eight beams of light, each of which connected to a smaller disc. Then the circle of discs let loose with particle beams in eight different directions, obliterating the remaining Cube Fighters. 

Slade shrugged again after seeing the enemies get vaporized. 

"Okay... I can live with that." 

Jura was silent as she simply stared out at nothing in particular. 

---------- 

Later... 

After Meia and her Dread teams had finished off the last of the Cube Fighters in orbit, (though they had been unable to damage the main vessel), and returned to the Nirvana, Magno was informed that communications to the planet was possible. In fact, the inhabitants were hailing them at the moment. When the main monitor came up, Magno found herself being addressed by the leader, Fanita. She appeared to be a young woman in her early twenties with long, blonde hair and an angelic face. She wore light lavender robes and had some kind of white mask hanging from a chain around her neck. 

"Welcome to the most beautiful planet in the universe, Anpathos." 

"Anpathos, eh?" Magno said. 

"Yes. We have waited patiently for so long for your arrival." 

"For us?" BC asked. 

"You are Munya, are you not?" Fanita inquired. 

The captain and first officer of the Nirvana looked at each other with puzzled expressions before Magno addressed Fanita again. "I'm sorry but we're not this Munya that you're talking about." 

The leader of Anpathos became a bit disappointed at this news. "You're not?" 

The pirate captain shook her head. "No, but there are a few things that we would like to discuss with you. Would you mind terribly if we came down there?" 

Fanita gave a nonchalant nod. "I'm afraid that with the time of the Great Ritual at hand, we cannot give you a proper welcome." 

"That's all right." 

---------- 

"I got it all on tape! Your magnificent form in action has now been captured for posterity!" Barnette said excitedly as she communicated through to the Teknodread. 

Jura however, wasn't even paying attention as she and Slade sat on the floating machine. 

---------- 

After leaving Bart in command of the Nirvana, (while strictly forbidding him not to run in case the enemy shows up), Magno and her first officer took a shuttle to the surface of the planet. 

When they got down to the island, they disembarked from the craft and looked about. Slade, who had decided to retake his armor and leave Jura to mope, soon joined them. The blonde Dread pilot had been unresponsive and the Tekkaman had thought to give her some time alone. He came down a staircase that was built into the walls that surrounded the island city. 

"Hey! Grandma!" Recently, Slade had taken to calling Magno as Grandma, since the term was more acceptable than Old Ghoul was. 

"Hello D-Boy. I see that you are none worse for wear." Magno and Gascogne were the only ones that Slade allowed to refer to him as D-Boy. 

"What about Jura?" BC asked. 

Slade shrugged. "Princess Crabby is still moping, but I don't think she's hurt or nothing." 

"If she's fine, then I'd like for you to come with us." Magno said as she and her first officer walked toward what appeared to be a shrine. 

Milling about the city, the people of Anpathos seemed to be preparing for some kind of festival. Slade wondered just what was going on and then shrugged as he followed the captain and her first officer. He'd learn soon enough. 

---------- 

In the Nivana's hanger deck... 

"Mr. Alien and Jura... they're down there alone!" Dita was pacing back and forth as she was thinking of what could be happening on the planet's surface. 

"Calm down Dita." Meia said. "I'm sure that everything's all right. The captain and the commander are down there too." 

"I know, but still..." Dita looked out toward a porthole and down at the planet below. "Mr. Alien..." 

Though she would never admit it to anyone, Meia was also a bit uneasy that the voluptuous Jura was with Slade. During their voyage back toward Mejele and Tarak, Slade had often hinted that he knew about a few things, concerning ancient male-female relationships. And thought of him being alone with the very sexy Dread pilot made Meia very uncomfortable. 

---------- 

"So who exactly are these Munya that you are all waiting for?" Magno asked as she spoke with the leader of Anpathos. 

The pirates found themselves standing in front of a large column with stairs winding up the sides and toward the top of the shrine. In front of the column was a large stone plaque that had the image of a person on his knees, with a kind of tail sticking out of the small of his back. 

"The Munya are the ones who brought our ancestors to this world." Fanita explained. "We are so very grateful to them and we have been patiently awaiting for the time of their return." 

The vague explanation left Magno and her group with more questions. "Exactly, what are the Munya? Why are they coming here?"

"They are in need of the Spiral Code from us." The leader of Anpathos replied. 

"Spiral Code? What the heck is that?" Slade wondered. 

It was then that BC looked back up at the shrine's emblem and realized what they meant. "They're after the Spinal Cord!" 

This made Slade more appalled. These people were actually willing to let the aliens harvest them for their body parts? Didn't they have any backbone? The Tekkaman winced at the unintended pun. 

---------- 

Meanwhile, back on the Nirvana... 

"When can we replenish our food supplies?" 

"Excuse me, but I put in a request to be assigned a different locker." 

"So do you think that these shoes go well with my dress?" 

"Which skirt is better, the blue or the gold?" 

"Have I gained weight?" 

"Do you think this blouse makes me look fat?" 

"I've been thinking about dying my hair blonde." 

Bart was on the verge of a nervous breakdown as the entire crew had been pestering him with questions and requests, most of which were trivial. It soon became one big, jumbled mess and finally, the helmsman couldn't take it any more. 

"WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP?!" 

The monitors in the navigation well became silent as he cut off all communications with the other crewmembers. Just when he thought he was about to get some peace, Paiway hailed him. 

"What now?" Bart asked tiredly. 

"Don't flake out on the job." The apprentice nurse warned. 

---------- 

Back on the planet's surface, Magno had heard enough. It was obvious that the people of Anpathos were nothing more than sheep and were just letting others dictate their lives. They were using the excuses of tradition and custom to explain their lack of resistance to the aliens. In fact, they emulated the enemy to the status of gods and served them without question. 

To the ancient captain, that was unacceptable. However, there seemed to be no way to convince Fanita that resisting the Munya and making their own decisions was far more preferable than just waiting to die. They seemed to be completely under their masters' control and were nothing more than lapdogs. 

"What can you know about life?" Magno charged. 

"What do you know about this Munya? You call this the most beautiful planet in the universe? What have you compared it with? What would you know about this world at all, besides this tiny scrap of land?" 

"The beliefs of my people were established long ago by the Munya." Fanita argued. 

"Hmpf! Again with this Munya. It seems that you cannot make even the simplest of decisions without consulting with this great Munya. How pathetic!" 

---------- 

Up in orbit, Bart was again barraged with questions and requests from all sides by the crew, but then an alarm went off. Something had just warped into Anpathos' solar system. 

"Huh?" 

---------- 

"It's the enemy!" Bart said on the communicator. 

"How many?" BC asked. 

"There's only one, but it's kind of big, and it's shaped like a container." 

The first officer nodded as she addressed her superior. "Captain!" 

Magno nodded as she turned to Fanita. "Well now, it seems that your precious Munya has arrived." 

"Really?" This news made Fanita extremely pleased. "Finally! The prophecies have come true!" 

Slade and the Nirvana's captain began to have a bad feeling about this. Their suspicions were confirmed when the top of the shrine extended a quartet of receiving antennas in response to the alien's arrival. The water level of surrounding ocean began to rise and soon had the ground flooded. 

"They've planned this out well." BC commented as she saw hundreds of people converge on the shrine. Each one was now wearing a simple ritual mask, which reminded her of condemned prisoners walking toward the executioner. 

"What is it?" Slade asked. 

"In this way, the people will all be gathered up in one spot." The first officer answered. 

---------- 

Up in orbit, Bart wondered what to do as the alien craft approached to link up with its sister ship. On the advice of Meia, he had the Dread teams scramble and set up a defensive line. The sleek fighters soon sped out to meet with the enemy, but they found out that several scores of Cube Fighters were also lining up to defend their mother ships. 

---------- 

On Anpathos, Magno shook her head with disgust. She had no intention of letting herself or her crew be harvested alongside these weak-minded fools.

"You cannot change destiny." Fanita said as she put on her ritual mask. 

"Destiny, eh? That's very convenient for you to say. Then again, people who let others decide for them always have an excuse." 

"This is the right thing to do!" Fanita angrily retorted. "Tradition is tradition! It is YOU who are wrong! You're strangers to our world and now you insult our God? How can you be so rude?" 

"I see there's no point in continuing this discussion." The aged woman turned to leave, but then gasped in pain as she slumped down to her knees in the inch-deep water. 

"Grandma!" Slade went her side as Buzom also knelt down beside her commander. 

"Of all the times for my back to go out!" Magno gritted as she leaned on her walking stick for support. "I can't move!" 

"Grandma..." 

"I have no intention of becoming a part of this!" The ancient crone said as she looked up at the Tekkaman. 

"It's up to you, D-Boy." Slade nodded as he made his Tekkacrystal appear and headed out to where Jura's Dread was floating. 

The pirate captain nodded as she addressed Fanita. "Well now. It seems that we have some time to kill." 

---------- 

"Hey! We've got to launch!" D-Boy called out as he ran toward Jura's Dread. 

Jura made no indication of having heard him as she continued to sit and gaze at nothing in particular. 

"Hey! Didn't you hear me?" Slade leapt down from a wall and onto the Dread. 

The blonde pilot angrily turned her head. "Unfortunately, I did! Go away!" 

"What's with you? Don't you realize what's at stake?" 

"Not my problem!" 

"The _HELL_ it isn't!" Slade gripped her right shoulder, causing Jura to tense up for a moment. Then she slumped back down and sadly sighed. 

"It doesn't matter now." She said without facing him.

Slade shook his head. "Are you _STILL_ hung up about that? Aren't your friends and comrades more important than what your Tekkadread looks like?" 

When Jura didn't answer, the martial artist became even more irritated at her shallow attitude. "Listen up! You've been bugging me for months now to combine with you, and when it finally happens, you wimp out!" 

Jura continued to say nothing. 

"Is that it? Did you just want to combine with me, because you thought that it would be something that no one had ever seen before?" When Jura remained silent, Slade sighed and took his hand off her shoulder. "Okay. Now I get it. So you want to do something that no one has ever done before, eh?" 

At this point, Jura responded. "I... don't care any more, and nothing you can say or do will get me to... mmmmfff!" 

Before she knew it, Slade had grasped her by the shoulders, hauled her up... and kissed her. 

Jura's eyes widened to the size of saucers as she found her lips being pressed up against Slade's. Her heart thundered in her chest at about a hundred beats per second as the osculation continued. Her body temperature rose dramatically and she felt her knees getting weak, as a kind of warmth spread through her very being. And the most shocking thing about it was... she liked it! 

Slade then ended the kiss and stepped away from her as she was still in a state of utter astonishment. He stood with his arms crossed in front of him and waited for Jura to find her voice. 

"W-W-What... why... did... y-y-you...?" 

"Now that I've gotten your attention," Slade replied. "I want you to listen up. Right now, you've just done something that no one on your planet has ever done. You're the first one to have kissed a man in over a hundred years... and survived. Now you've got another opportunity to do something incredible. You get to save an entire planet. Now that's got to be something that nearly no one can claim to, right?" 

Jura touched her still tingling lips with her fingers as she considered Slade's words. Then, she nodded. "That's... not half-bad. All right, let's combine!" 

Her partner held his crystal aloft. "By the way. Let's keep this between the two of us, okay? TEKSETTER!" 

---------- 

Up in space, the Dread teams were having a very tough time. Several fighters, including Barnette's were out of commission as the pirates desperately tried to hold their defensive lines. However, the large machines took no damage and the Cube-Types continued to press their attacks on the Nirvana. 

Inside the navigation well, Bart recited his mantra over and over again. 

"I won't run! I won't run! I won't run!" 

However, as soon as the ship was hit by several of the enemy fighters, he screamed like a little girl. "I can't take this anymore!" 

"Don't be such a coward!" Magno said as she spoke through Buzom's communicator. 

This caught everyone's attention as the captain spoke. 

"I've been alive for a long time and I've seen many people die because I was helpless to do anything about it. However, though it all, those people never gave up. They fought to the end and I feel proud to have known them. I feel even prouder to know that the people I am with now are just as determined to never surrender. They believe in their hearts that what they are doing is right, because they had decided for themselves. And that is why I cannot abide those who let others determine their destinies and do nothing to change it!" 

The speech had its desired effect as Bart tensed up and readied to face the enemy. "I'm not moving an inch!" 

At that moment another voice came over the communications. "You're in the way! Move it!" 

At the sound of Slade's voice, Bart immediately moved the Nirvana out of orbit as Tekkadread Jura shot up from the planet's surface. 

---------- 

"Leave this to us!" Slade said as he readied the craft.

"If you're not fast enough, then you'll end up as a casualty of war!" Jura added. 

Tekkadread Jura came to a point in orbit and let loose with its repulsor discs. Each device shot out to a specific position above the planet's atmosphere and then began emitting a strong field of energy. Soon the entire planet became surrounded by a force field. 

On the planet's surface, the water level receded as contact with the alien craft was cut off. Buzom and Magno both smiled. 

In the Tekkadread's cockpit, Jura squealed with delight. "I'd like to see those other Tekkadreads do this!" 

"It's too soon to celebrate!" Slade reminded as he watched the two alien machines join together and began emitting a kind of vacuum force. Several of the Cube Fighters were drawn into the open maw of the monstrous ship. 

The Tekkaman smirked as he slammed a fist on another button. "Open wide! For today only, it's all you can eat!" 

A large opening in the force field formed just below the Tekkadread, causing a huge column of water to be sucked up from the ocean's surface. Using the larger disc as a kind of deflector, he redirected the stream to fire into the alien vessel. The entire craft began to shudder as it was being filled to the brim with seawater. 

Inside the fused Dread, Jura became concerned as the cockpit began to shake. 

"You're going to break it!" 

"Shut up and watch!" The former Saotome replied. "That thing was supposed to collect only the people on that island. It can't possibly hold the entire ocean!" 

Out in space, Meia shook her head. "That's so reckless." 

Dita had to admit that she was a little jealous. 

A few moments later, the alien ship burst apart, sending water flying out into space and leaving only debris. 

Inside her Tekkadread, Jura immediately hugged her partner in celebration. They had done it! 

However, just as they had started to head back to the Nirvana, the threat sensors went off. Everyone else present also became shocked as they witnessed something else emerge from hyperspace. Apparently, the aliens had a backup plan to gather up the people of Anpathos. 

"What the?! No way!" Jura gasped. 

"Okay... now we have a problem." Slade said as he looked at the thing. 

Unlike the last alien ship, this one was not all passive. It was shaped like some giant, grotesque octopus, with long, metallic tentacles that waved about. Each arm had numerous gun ports, which began firing blasts at the Dread formations and the Nirvana. As it caused the smaller ships to scatter, it began making its way toward Anpathos and Tekkadread Jura. The Tekkaman guessed that the machine intended to land on the planet and scoop up the inhabitants. Since the people revered the aliens like gods, they would put up no resistance. 

"Quick! Fire some more water at that yucky thing!" Jura shouted as it neared them. 

Slade shook his head. "I don't think that's going to work again. I have a feeling that they won't fall for the same trick twice." 

"That what do we do?" 

The person, who had been named Ranma when he had been born, looked about the controls and spied a red button that he hadn't noticed before. For all he knew, it was a self-destruct switch. Seeing that he had no other alternative, he shrugged and reached for it. 

"Well, I haven't tried this one." He then pressed it while focusing his power into the console. 

To everyone's surprise, the repulsor discs suddenly dropped their energy shields and returned to circling around Tekkadread Jura. Then the awesome machine shot up out of orbit and headed toward the enemy. It let off a bright flare of light as its form began to shift. The arms and pincers retracted and reformed into a new configuration, just below the front of the fighter. The fuselage became elongated and sleeker as two more limbs appeared in the aft sections. A square head extended from a hidden section and twin sharp points sprouted to form fangs. A pair of winglike thrusters appeared on the midsection as a wavy tail with a blaster cannon on the tip completed the appearance. 

---------- 

"It's a..." Dita began as everybody stared at the second form of Jura's Tekkadread. 

---------- 

Inside the Tekkadread... 

"IT'S A TIGER! I LOVE IT!" Jura was ecstatic. 

For Slade, it was a different story. "I HATE IT! CHANGE IT BACK!" Apparently, the Tekkaman Power Process had not wiped out all the effects of the Neko Ken. For reasons that he couldn't remember, he still hated cats with a passion, though he no longer feared them or went into the feral state. 

However, as the enemy bore down on them, Slade realized that this was no time to argue as he took hold of the controls of Tekkadread Jura. Behind him, in the new seating arrangement, Jura also began working the controls as she still wore a happy grin. She had her elegant form at last! 

Tekkadread Jura began dodging the laser barrage like a jungle cat that was evading its hunters. The blonde pilot marveled at how graceful her new machine moved. The discs floated about to deflect any incoming shot as the feline machine closed in on its prey. As it came up from behind the alien craft, Slade gritted his teeth. The sooner he got this over with, the sooner he could separate. He focused his power into the systems, causing the front claws to glow with energy. 

"TIGER CLAW... VOLTEKKER!" 

As it passed by the mechanical octopus, the Tiger Tekkadread made a mighty swipe. A flash of quantum energy blazed though the enemy, slicing the massive machine in twain. Then the two halves violently exploded like their predecessor, leaving Tekkadread Jura triumphant. 

"YIPEE! LET'S DO IT AGAIN!" 

Jura's partner slumped over the controls and said, "Let's not ever do that again." 

---------- 

After bidding their farewells to the free, yet ungrateful people of Anpathos, the pirates resumed their voyage home. 

In the hanger, Jura cried out in disbelief. "What? What did you mean that you didn't tape it?" 

Barnette gave her fellow pilot a scowl. "There wasn't any time to get out my camcorder!" 

Jura then shrugged as she started boasting again. "Oh well, no matter. Just be sure to tape the next time! Not only does _MY_ Tekkadread have the ability to shield an entire planet, but it has _TWO_ magnificent forms!" 

Meia became thoughtful as she said, "Apparently, your Tekkadread specializes in both offense and defense. The crab is for protection while the tiger is for attack." 

Slade let off an annoyed growl as he threw up his hands. "Whatever! At least you won't be bugging me any more about combining!" 

However, just as he began to walk off, Jura shook her head, came up from behind, and wrapped her arms about him. 

"Oh no! After today, I'm _NEVER_ letting you go!" She also thought about that kiss that she and Slade had shared. 

"_HEY_! What gives!?" Dita said with jealously as she tried to pull Slade away from Jura. 

The blonde tried to pull him back toward her. "I'm saying that from now on, he'll be combining with me!" 

"NO WAY! MR. ALIEN WILL COMBINE WITH ME!" 

Slade gave a pleading look to the heavens above as he found himself in the middle of a tug-of-war. Finally he shouted out. 

"LET GO OF ME!" 

To be continued... 

Author's Notes 

Well, there we have it. As you can see, I decided to make Jura's Tekkadread to be a bit different than what was depicted in the original Vandread. I figured that a Tiger would appeal to her and that it would be something that Slade would hate. As for the kiss, well that will have its own consequences, as Slade becomes even more involved with the Nirvana's crew. 


	11. Songfic: Believe it or Not

Believe it or Not 

A Tekkadread Songfic 

Disclaimer: The original song came from the theme of the Greatest American Hero. I'm not sure who sung it, but I heard it on the radio and I couldn't keep it out of my head. 

[" "]: Lyrics 

*This songfic takes place a few days after ch.9 of Tekkadread.* 

We see the Nirvana speeding along in space on its way back to Mejele and Tarak space. The crew is busy with their duties as life aboard the transformed ship takes on a steady routine. Inside, Slade is causally walking down a corridor, on his way to the recreation room. As he nears the area, he begins to hear piano music. He becomes moderately surprised to see Dita playing in front of a large, antique grand piano that was situated near a far corner. Standing beside the piano and obviously enjoying the music were Magno, Jura, Barnette and Meia. 

The Tekkaman smiled as he walked over, just as Dita was finishing up her impromptu concert. 

The girls looked over to where Slade was when he started lightly applauding. 

"D-Boy, what brings you here?" The captain asked.

"Oh, I was just walking along when I started hearing some wonderful music." He gave a gentle smile to the red-haired pilot. "You play very well."

Dita smiled at the compliment. "Thanks Mr. Alien! It's something that my ohma taught me. Do you play?" 

Slade became a bit flustered after being asked. "Who me? Well..."

Dita giggled. "Yes, I mean you, silly!" 

Barnette snorted. "Hah! That's a laugh!" 

"What are you talking about?" Dita asked, genuinely puzzled. 

"A man that's able to play music? Hah!" Barnette replied sarcastically. "Obviously, you don't know much about men, Dita. They're too clumsy and crude to know how to play music or sing." 

Slade gave the Dread pilot a whimsical look. "Oh really? And what's so hard to believe that men can play instruments and sing?" 

"All anyone has to do is look at the men on board the Nirvana. The doctor and navigator didn't even know what a piano was when they first saw it." She pointed at the instrument. 

Jura smiled as she nodded. "No offense to you Slade, but I have to agree with Barnette. Men can't possibly understand the subtle beauty and joy of music like we females do." 

"Oh really?" Slade crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, I think that men could play and sing just as well as females can." 

"Oh yeah? Well why don't _YOU_ prove it!" Barnette pointed a finger at him. 

"Me?" 

Barnette nodded with a smug look on her face. "Yes. Why don't you play us something?" She gestured at the piano. "That is, unless you don't know how." 

Slade glanced down at the instrument for a while. "Well... it's been a long time since I played one of these things..." 

"You can play?" Dita asked. 

"Well, yeah a bit. I picked up a few things besides fighting techniques during my travels." 

Dita smiled as she got up from the bench and offered it to him. "I want to hear you play!" 

"As do I." The captain agreed. 

Barnette's smile became wider, and she made no effort to hide it. There was no way that Slade could back down from this challenge. She then got a more wicked idea as she inched toward an intercom and tapped the speaker control. Whatever horrible music Slade produced would be broadcast all over the ship. 

With all eyes directed at him, Slade sighed and nodded. He really shouldn't have opened his big mouth, but now he either had to put up or shut up. He slowly sat down on the bench and held out his hands. He started thinking back to when he learned to play a device that was similar to the ancient instrument. He began testing out some of the keys, trying to get a feel for them. 

"What's the matter Slade? You said that you could play as well as a woman?" Barnette taunted. 

"Hold on. Just let me get warmed up. It's been a while since I did something like this." After playing a few more off-key notes, he nodded as he got a feel for the various tones. He then looked up to his audience. 

"Here's something I leaned a while back. The people who taught me this song said that it was an old Earth lyric. It reminded me of how I felt when I first became a Tekkaman." 

The women listened closely and many were astounded when the piano began emitting a very dramatic melody. Then, to everyone's astonishment, in a very soft, yet pleasant tone, Slade began to sing. 

Slade: ["Look at what's happened to me. I can't believe it myself. Suddenly I'm up on top of the world. It should have been somebody else."] 

---------- 

The Register... 

"Who's that singing on the speaker?" Ukyo asked. 

Gascogne cocked her head to one side as her face took on a surprised look. "D-Boy?" 

---------- 

Slade: ["Believe it or not, I'm walking on air. I never thought I could feel so free! Flying away, on a wing and a prayer. Who could it be? Believe or not, it's just me!"] 

---------- 

"That's our commander?" One of the Vanguard pilots asked. 

Xian Pu could only shake her head in disbelief. 

---------- 

Dita smiled as she clasped her hands together and listen eagerly. 

Slade: ["Just like the light of a new day. It hit me from out of the blue."] 

---------- 

The medical station... 

"What is that?" Bart asked. 

Duero cocked an ear and listened. "I believe that is what the females refer to as music." 

Paiway was also shocked to hear that a man was actually making those wonderful sounds. 

---------- 

Slade: ["Breaking me out of the spell I was in. Making all of my wishes come true!"] 

He began playing more intensely as he played the next chorus. 

Slade: ["Believe it or not, I'm walking on air. I never thought I could feel so free! Flying away on a wing and a prayer. Who could it be? Believe it or not, it's just me!"] 

The music began hitting a crescendo as Slade began reprising the last chorus. 

---------- 

Engineering section... 

Slade: ["Believe it or not!"] 

"He's pretty good for a man." Parfat remarked. 

---------- 

The bridge... 

Slade: ["Believe it or not!] 

Ezra nodded as she rubbed her pregnant belly. 

---------- 

The Dread Platform... 

The maintenance crew took a short break as they stopped to listen to Slade's voice. 

Slade: ["Believe it or not!"] 

---------- 

Though she was standing right there, Meia wondered how a man could actually play and sing so well. 

Slade: ["Believe it or not!"] 

---------- 

At this point, Slade began playing his all. 

Slade: ["Believe it or not, I'm walking on air. I never though I could feel so free. Flying away, on a wing and a prayer. Who could it be? Believe it or not, it's just me!"] 

The music then slowly faded away as the Tekkaman quietly ended the song. When the final note was played and all became silent, he got up from the bench and walked out of the recreation hall, leaving an entire ship in total shock and awe. Then, one by one, the crew began to applaud. For Barnette, she was totally stunned at being showed up. 

Magno smiled as she watched Slade leave. _It seems that there is far more to you Slade than just fighting._

THE END 

Author's Notes 

Okay, so it sounded corny, but hey it works in Slade's case, and I wanted to depict something other than just action and comedy. 


	12. Chapter 10: A Little Bit of Christmas Sp...

**TEKKADREAD**

Disclaimer: The Devil made me do it! 

: Thoughts 

**Chapter 10**

**A Little Bit of Christmas Spirit**

The homeworld of the Harvest Fleet... 

Deep within the massive gears and framework of the once-beautiful planet, the leaders of the Harvest were getting agitated. Inside a vast complex, several shadowy figures watched a series of images on a large, holographic monitor. The screen depicted the exploits of a certain pirate vessel, its amazing Dread fighters, and one figure in particular. The images of the Tekkaman Slade were the most prominent of the recordings that had been transmitted back, after each encounter with the Mejele pirates and their Tarak allies. 

"This will not do." One of the viewers stated. 

"Indeed." Another replied. "This cannot continue. The Harvest is already behind schedule, due to the interference of this... Tekkaman." 

"Yes, we have all seen the reports." A third added. "However, this Tekkaman has already shown to be quite an obstacle. We have already lost a considerable amount of resources and these individuals he is with, have proven to be very adaptable." 

"Perhaps we should concentrate instead on the other planets in our Harvest operation?" Another leader suggested. "After all, we are only dealing with one small ship." 

"One small ship with some very powerful weapons and a Tekkaman!" The first leader reminded. "You do recall the Radam?" 

"Who has not?" The second leader replied. "After all, it was because of the Radam that we have the Paksis. The Radam were quite formidable." 

The third individual then added an observation. "From all the preliminary scans from our drones of this Tekkaman, we can assume that he is of the same bio-technology as the Radam's. However, our scans also indicate that he has been in contact with the Paksis Pragma as well. Those strange fighters and that fusion process of theirs have also exhibited the effects of Paksis. That may be the key to their power." 

"Very well then. We shall... how should we say it? Fight fire with fire." 

---------- 

It had been more than four months since the Nirvana had begun its long trek back to Mejele and Tarak space. Since that time, the crew had been trying to keep its morale up during the voyage and the constant alien attacks. Today, there was a blessed reprieve from the fighting as a special time of the year had arrived. The vessel became a flurry of activity as all the females began putting up lavish decorations. Currently, the ship was traveling along a course, which brought it near the path of a huge comet. 

---------- 

"Commander, do you think we can put up the view of the comet on the main monitor?"

BC nodded to her subordinate. "Go ahead." She then let off a tired sigh as she looked about the bridge. Dozens of crewmembers were milling about, putting up wreaths, tinsel and other holiday decorations. It was always like this every Christmas Eve and the serious sub-commander saw it as a frivolous and meaningless activity. She had a large sweatdrop as the captain suddenly appeared, dressed in a Santa outfit. 

"Well, we can't have Christmas without Santa Claus, right?" Magno said cheerfully as she greeted her crew. 

The females thought it was so kawaii, but Buzom's sweatdrop only got bigger. 

--------- 

In the kitchen, Barnette was busy making a special Christmas cake for the feast as Jura and Dita helped out. 

"You should put more chocolate crème." Jura advised. "Oh, and don't forget the powdered sugar." 

Dita smacked her lips after sampling some leftover icing. "Yummy!" 

However, she received a rap on the head as Jura glared down at her. 

"Dita! I told you to watch the turkey!" 

The younger pilot sighed while nodding. However, when she turned and saw that thick black smoke was coming out of the oven, she eeped and ran straight for the kitchen door. 

"Dita! Come back here!" 

---------- 

Slade and the men watched the women in a state of confusion as they continued to put up decorations. The females were in a state of excitement that the Tarak males couldn't understand. 

"What's going on?" Bart asked. 

Pyoro nodded as he replied. "It's Christmas! Every year on December 24th, women celebrate this time." 

Slade cocked his head to one side in thought then nodded. "Oh yeah. I remember something like that being practiced on some of the other planets I've visited." 

"What's is this... Chistmas?" Duero asked. 

"It's a festival!" Pyoro replied. "Didn't they have things like that on Tarak?" 

Bart reluctantly replied. "Well... they did have something like that..." He shuddered a bit as he recalled the celebrations on his home planet, which were nothing more than military parading and shows of strength. "But they weren't exactly what one would call enjoyable." 

The doctor nodded as he too found Tarak parties to be boring. He then addressed the Tekkaman. "What about you? Since you're not from Tarak, do you know anything about Christmas?" 

The martial artist shrugged. "I have really... vague memories of snow and some kind of activity called 'trimming the tree.' I learned about Christmas from those other planets I've visited and I know some of the customs, though I'm not too sure if the women do the same stuff here..." 

At that moment, the door opened, revealing a very perky Dread pilot. 

"Ah hah! There you are!" 

"Aw nuts!" 

---------- 

"Honest? You don't celebrate Christmas?" Dita asked as she, Pyoro and the men walked together down a hallway. 

Slade shrugged. "I was always on the move so I didn't have much time to stay for parties." 

"Men lead such depressing lives." The robot remarked. "They have to miss out on things like a great feast and yummy desserts." 

"That's one of the best parts." Dita agreed. "Barnette is making a special Christmas cake." 

This of course, caught Slade's attention. Even though he was no longer Ranma Saotome, he still retained the Saotome stomach, plus the high-energy demands that the Tekkaman Power System required. 

"Well... I suppose I could lend a hand." 

---------- 

The group entered a supply room, looking for decorations. The area had not been opened since the two ships had merged into the Nirvana. There was a considerable amount of dust and Slade noticed that a door was hidden behind a stack of boxes. 

"Hey, check this out." He pointed to the door while moving some of the boxes out of the way. He gave the door a slight push and it squeaked open, revealing a very dusty room full of items that have not seen the light of day in over a century. 

"Wow, what is all this stuff?" Dita asked as she peered inside. 

Duero ran a finger over a desk and assessed the amount of dust on its surface. "It seems that we have stumbled upon a section of the Ikazuchi, during the Colonization Era." 

"Colonization Era?" Bart asked. 

"Yes. This ship used to be a part of a colony fleet from Earth, according to the captain, remember? From the looks of all this dust, I'd say that this part of the ship has been sealed off, since the time of the first generation." 

As the group looked about at the hodgepodge of ancient texts, toys, furniture and other miscellaneous items, Dita spied a small box that was covered with a blanket. She knelt down and began rummaging through the container. She pulled out a rectangular object and held it out for the others to see. It was an ancient VHS tape with the label entitled 'X-Mas with the Family.' 

"What do you suppose this is?" 

Slade gazed upon it, then nodded. He looked about and pointed to an ancient videocassette player. Hooking up the old device to an outlet and patching it into the monitor systems of the ship, he then popped in the cassette. However, he had also accidentally connected the player to all the comm systems. As a result, everyone saw the show. 

---------- 

In the ship's galley, the women stopped in their Christmas Eve preparations when a holographic screen appeared and showed a test pattern. The image was grainy and had static along the edges from years of degradation, but it was still clear enough for all to see. 

The scene faded in on a quaint, Christmas setting. It showed a mother and her daughter sitting on a couch near a fireplace. Beside the family, was a lavishly decorated tree and in the background, stockings were hung. In the woman's arms was a small infant. 

The women gave off 'oohs, 'aahs,' and 'how cute,' comments as they continued to watch what appeared to be a perfect family Christmas on Mejele. Then their expressions turned to absolute shock as a new character entered the scene and sat down beside them. The little girl let off a playful giggle and reached out to great... her father. 

"N-No way!" Paiway gasped. 

"It... can't be!" Barnette shook her head in denial. 

"A man and... a woman?!" Jura didn't know why she suddenly had an image of herself and Slade in her mind, sitting together on the same couch in the video. 

What was the most shocking part about the entire scene was that everyone in the video appeared so... happy. 

---------- 

"Amazing!" Dita exclaimed as she and the men continued to watch. 

Floating nearby, Pyoro gazed upon the small infant in the woman's arms. "A small human... is just my size. A... baby..." 

---------- 

A little later in the sick bay... 

"A MAN AND A WOMAN LIVING TOGETHER UNDER THE SAME ROOF?!" Bart was hysterical at what he had just seen. It was sacrilege! 

"Here's a tranquilizer." Deuro offered some pills to his companion, which Bart quickly snatched up and gulped down with a glass of water. 

"IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! IT'S ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE!" 

It was at that point that Slade dropped a bomb. "No it isn't." 

Both men looked at him in disbelief. 

The Tekkaman shrugged. "Aren't we doing that right now? We're men and we're living under the same roof with the women, aren't we?" 

Bart swallowed hard as he tried to get his mouth to work to deny everything. Duero thought for a moment and said, "Well, technically that is true, but..." 

"But what?" Slade interrupted. "There's nothing to get excited about. I've seen it happen hundreds of times. In fact... it's natural." 

"No! It can't be natural!" Bart adamantly denied. "It can never happen on Tarak or Mejele!" 

Slade snorted a bit. "Well, in case you haven't noticed, we're _NOT_ on Tarak or Mejele, are we? And besides, who says that Tarak and Mejele are the only worlds that have humans living on it? I've seen dozens of planets, in which colonists from Earth have settled, and they still practice the old customs between men and women." 

This caught the doctor's interest. "Hmmm, fascinating. I'd like to hear more about your travels." 

Slade was about to oblige, but decided not to elaborate, considering Bart's agitated state. "Maybe later." 

---------- 

In Dita's bedroom... 

"It's _SO_ cool!" Dita sighed as she lay on her bed in seeming bliss. In her lap was a small box that was wrapped in green paper with a cartoon drawing of herself. On the top was a message that said, 'Do not open until midnight.' 

---------- 

On the bridge, Buzom tried to maintain a semblance of order among the crew, but it was a losing battle. The females were too excited to concentrate on their duties and the first officer knew that until the Christmas season was over, not much was going to be done. She let off another sigh as she sat down at a console and started scanning the surrounding areas, looking out for any sign of the enemy. 

---------- 

Slade was walking down the hall when his nose caught the slight scent of something that had been burned. He looked to his left and noted that he was near the galley. With little else to do until the party, he decided to investigate. 

---------- 

"It's no use! The turkey is ruined!" Barnette commented sadly as she stared at the blackened mass that would have been the main entrée of the feast. The appetizers, a few side dishes and dessert had been prepared, but there was still a big gap in the Christmas menu, especially when it was meant to feed over one hundred and fifty crewmembers. 

"Ooh, it's all Dita's fault!" Jura pouted. "She should have been watching it! Now there's no time to thaw out another one!" 

"So what can we cook for the main course?" 

"Why not just cook some more varied dishes?" Slade suggested. "A buffet-style dinner is always better for feeding large groups." 

Both women turned to see Slade casually leaning against the door to the kitchen with his arms crossed over his chest. 

Barnette scowled at him. "Oh go away! We don't need any more problems!" 

The Tekkaman cocked his head in slight puzzlement. Even after all he had done for the Nirvana and its crew; Barnette was still very hostile toward him. "Problems? I just heard that you didn't have anything for the main course and I thought I'd make some suggestions, maybe even help out with the cooking." 

This caught both females' attention. 

"You can cook? Yeah right." Barnette scoffed. "Since when can a man cook anything that isn't pill-shaped?" 

Slade sighed while shaking his head. He began walking up to them. "In case you haven't heard, I'm _NOT_ from Tarak. And what's so unbelievable about a man being able to cook?" 

This perked Jura's interest. It seemed that she was learning something new about Slade every day, which made him even more intriguing. Maybe this was the reason why Dita was always pursuing him. "You can really cook?" 

The martial artist shrugged. "Hey, I had to learn since I was always hopping planets. What, you thought I survived on those nutrition pills all this time?" 

"Hmpf!" Barnette snorted. "I don't believe it! There's just no way a man could cook anything good!" 

Slade shrugged again as he approached the kitchen counter and deftly picked up a carving knife. Without looking back at her, he put his hand on a head of lettuce and said with a little smile, "Well, I guess the best way to prove it, is to show you." He turned on the sink faucet. "HIYAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" 

With that battle cry he washed the lettuce and tossed it into the air, followed by some cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and various other foodstuffs. Twirling the carving knife in one hand, he began using high-speed, precision strokes, cutting each vegetable like living Cuisinart. Before the food had a chance to fall a hundredth of the way down to the floor, they were neatly diced or sliced. A heartbeat later, Slade held out a large bowl and caught the food in perfect arrangements. The shredded lettuce made a neat base while the sliced cucumbers, and tomatoes made neat circular patterns, followed by the onions, radishes, pre-hardboiled eggs, parsley and so forth. 

He repeated the process several times, giving a whole new meaning to the term 'tossed salad.' After completing the salads, without loss of momentum, he turned to the stove and fired it up, while flipping a wok onto the burner. 

A few moments later and the wok was sizzling as meat, vegetables and sauces were added in their correct proportions. His hands worked with remarkable dexterity as he prepared several dozen servings of stir-fry. Every time he finished, he'd flip the contents high into the air and toss a plate after them. The food would land onto the plate without a single drop spilled and the entire platter would land easily on the waiting dinner table, which would be wheeled out into the Bio-Park during the party. 

Both Barnette and Jura stood with their mouths open as they watched Slade whip up a storm of culinary delights with the cooking implements. Every now and then, he'd throw in a flashy maneuver, making the process of food preparation even more entertaining. He'd twirl knives or juggle them back and forth. He'd hurl food high into the air and catch them in seemingly impossible positions. He'd balance several trays on his head, fingers, arms and knees. 

As the cooking show continued, the delicious aromas began to waft down the hall, attracting several new spectators, including two descendants of girls who would have been Ranma's fiancées. 

Ukyo and Xian Pu had been carrying tree decorations when they both smelled the delicious food being prepared in the kitchen. Naturally assuming that it was Barnette's handiwork, they decided to stop and watch. They were quite surprised to see Slade doing all work. 

"How is he doing that?" Jura asked, as her eyes never left Slade's lean-muscled form.

Xian Pu, Ukyo and all the rest of the girls who had stopped to watch were rendered speechless. A man was actually cooking? 

Ukyo the VXII gasped when the Tekkaman started preparing something new. She instantly recognized the recipe as batter was being poured onto the grill. 

"It can't be! Only my family knows the secrets of okonomiyaki!" 

However, Slade was also knowledgeable in the ancient recipe of Japanese pizza. Though his memory of his former life as Ranma was mostly gone, he still retained certain memories of taste, as he had always loved Ucchan's cooking. After awakening from the Tekkapod and wandering about the cosmos, he had eventually come across a recipe that was similar to what he vaguely recalled. A few bouts of trial and error and he finally achieved the taste that he so faintly recollected. (1) 

Flipping the pancake-shaped dough with a pair of spatulas, he easily filled platter after platter of Ucchan's specialty. After filling up the banquet table with various and succulent types of food including egg rolls, several noodle dishes and soups, he finished up by twirling one final plate of food and threw it like a Frisbee at the opposite wall. The meal ricocheted off the wall, bounced off another, flipped high into the air and came down toward Barnette. The plate and food made three revolutions and was deftly caught by Slade, just after he made a neat flip over kitchen counter and landing before the astonished Dread pilot. 

"Dinner is served." Slade said with a flourish as he placed the platter down with the rest of the food and left the kitchen. 

The crowd of girls all began applauding at the show as Barnette stood in disbelief. Jura looked on him with new interest. 

Near the back of the crowds, Ukyo sampled the okonomiyaki that Slade had made and her eyes became wider. (_That's my ancestor's recipe that's been handed down throughout the generations!_) She could only watch as the Tekkaman made his leave. (_How could **HE** know my family's secret? Unless he's... no, that's impossible! He couldn't be...?_) 

---------- 

Like BC, Meia was also not much when it came to celebrations. Her childhood, after her parent's scandal, had been hard and she didn't have many happy memories of celebrating Christmas and her birthday after that. Since joining up with Magno's pirates, she had been dedicating her time to her duties. 

Currently, she had decided to patrol the area and was in the hanger where her Dread was stored. She noticed Gascogne and one of her staff trying to work in a spare seat into Dita's cockpit, but with little success. Apparently, the Dread was not meant for 'economy-sized' passengers. 

---------- 

Slade whistled a little ditty as he strolled though the hallways. It was an old tune that he had heard during his travels at this time of year. What was that song called again? Oh yes... Let It Snow. He then heard a small explosion coming from the Bio-Park. He ran to the area and saw that a large machine was smoking with Parfat standing beside an open panel. 

"Me thinks me goofed!" 

"What's going on, Parfat?" Slade asked as he walked toward the engineer. Buzom and a few others also came to the scene after hearing the device throw a fit. 

The head engineer looked up and gave Slade a bit of a sheepish smile. "I'm trying to make it snow in time for the Christmas Parade." 

One of the engineering staff came up to her and shook her head while showing the blueprints for the snowmaking machine. "I'm afraid that we blew out a couple of the relays, ma'am." 

Parfat kept her spirits high. "Don't worry! I'll make it snow for Christmas!" 

"But at this rate, we won't make it in time for the parade!" 

"Oh yeah, that's right. Maybe... I should scrap it?" 

Jura shook her head as she and Barnette came up to them. Jura's friend gave Slade a bit of a scowl. She didn't like being showed up twice. (2) 

"I won't have it! It wouldn't be Christmas without snow or snow sculptures!" Jura stated with a pout. 

Buzom sighed as she tried to suggest an alternative. "We'll be passing by that huge comet by midnight. That should satisfy everyone's desire for snow this year." 

"But it wouldn't be the same!" One crewmember complained. 

"Yes! We'll only be able to see it from inside the ship!" A girl named Celtic Midori added. She was wearing a huge bear costume and Slade often wondered why she would put on a klutzy costume that covered her entire body. As far as the Tekkaman could remember since coming aboard the Nirvana, he had never seen her face. It must be really hot under that suit. 

He then decided to leave since he didn't know how to make snow and would only be getting in the way. He decided to go out and get some exercise. 

---------- 

Later... 

Slade nodded as he rode on Pegas' back in his Tekkaman armor, and watched the comet streaking alongside him. The mass of ice was huge and was at least two miles in diameter, leaving a vast tail of vapor and debris. As he gazed upon the giant chunk of frozen water, his eyes caught a glimpse of something entering the comet's tail on the other side. He opted to investigate and directed the Tekkabot to enter the comet's tail as well. Just as they passed through a thick layer of ice, he saw some flashes of light occurring, and correctly guessed that there was some battle going on. He immediately changed course. 

---------- 

A little earlier... 

In her Dread, Meia had been routinely patrolling the area when her sensors picked up some strange energy readings occurring within the comet's tail. She decided to investigate and dove through the icy layers to find... an ambush. Her fighter became entangled in lattice of energy bands and was prevented from moving. She looked up from her cockpit and saw her captor. 

The machine was a grotesque-looking thing and resembled an armored spider with a huge eye in its center. It had been programmed by its masters to observe the Nirvana and attack any of its unwary crew. The alien craft had set up a kind of solid energy web and had been lying in wait for any prey. Unfortunately for the Dread leader, the machine considered her entangled Dread like a fly caught in a spider's web. 

At that moment, another flashed onto the scene. Meia's eyes widened as she saw Slade pass by her stricken craft. At the same time, the Tekkaman caught sight of her. Both said at the same time... 

"What are you doing here?!" 

---------- 

"Mr. Alien!" Dita cried out as she went looking for Slade to give him her present. It was nearing midnight, but she had been unable to find him. 

---------- 

Slade was busy slicing away with his lance at the energy bands that held Meia's Dread captive. The Tekkabot was using its laser cannons to aid its master in freeing their comrade. The aqua-haired girl became more impatient as time wore on. 

"Stop fooling around and get me out of here! Use that beam weapon of yours!" 

The Tekkaman stopped what he was doing and cocked his head in annoyance. "You want me to use my Voltekker to get you out?" 

"Yes!" 

Slade replied in a sarcastic tone. "Oh sure. My Voltekker can destroy a mountain. I could use it to blast this energy net. Of course, you and your Dread would be atomized along with it! Sheesh!" He then went back to cutting with his weapon. At that moment, the armored spider began advancing on Slade. 

However, the former Saotome simply turned and hurled his lance through the giant eye of his foe, causing it to stagger backward.

"Bug off! I'm busy!" He said as he sent out a line to retrieve his weapon. 

---------- 

Dita became even more worried as midnight was only a few minutes away. She still hadn't located Mr. Alien and the crew was counting down the minutes to midnight. 

---------- 

With one final slash, Slade freed Meia's Dread from its prison. As the craft maneuvered to get underway, the Tekkaman called for his robotic partner. Both Dread pilot and Tekkaman hightailed it out of there. However, the alien spider machine still did not want to give up. It began pursuing the two, but Slade decided to bring out the big guns. Turning about, his shoulder units opened up and... 

"VOLTEKKER!" 

---------- 

Midnight... 

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" 

_**KABOOM!**_

---------- 

The head of the comet made a spectacular explosion, causing the ice particles to shower the Nirvana. To all those inside, it looked like... 

"It's snowing outside!" 

"It's so beautiful!" 

"I wonder what happened?" 

"Has anyone seen Meia or Slade?"

On the bridge, Buzom was also wondering what was going on, and where those two went. Her communications array then picked up two voices from somewhere near the comet's head. 

"I think you overdid it!" 

"Picky, picky, picky! I got rid of it, didn't I? I also cooked dinner and the crew got to see some snow for Christmas! What more do you want?!" 

"Oh right. Like you planned that last one!" 

"Yeesh! Maybe I should have just left you in that web? Merry Christmas anyway!" 

Buzom shook her head while smiling. Those two may sometimes have their differences, but at least she knew that they were all right as they headed back to the Nirvana. 

---------- 

For the rest of the crew, Christmas came without a hitch and even the Tarak men became involved in the concept of gift-giving. Parfat managed to get her snow machine working, so it snowed not only outside of the ship, but inside as well. Duero had presented her with a painting of what he called the flow of white blood corpuscles, but in actuality, it looked like a picture of a blizzard. Jura received a fabulous diamond ring from Barnette, while Barnette received from Jura... a kiss. (That was it?) BC was quite surprised to be presented with a gift from Bart. Her present was the choicest pills from Garsus Foods, which were colored in red, green and white. Oh well, it was the thought that counted, right? 

Meia was a bit peeved that she now owed Slade her life... twice, although she had to admit that he was a pretty good cook. Before she knew it, she was on her third helping of his homemade egg rolls and okonomiyaki. 

As for Slade...? 

---------- 

"Mr. Alien!" Dita cried out as she saw him exit the Tekkabot's cockpit in the hanger. 

"Hmmm? Oh, hi." Slade greeted. He was pretty hungry and hoped there was still some food left at the banquet that he helped prepare. 

"Here." Dita said as she held out the box she had been carrying. "I wanted you to open this at midnight!"

Slade took the box and looked at it. "Ah, thanks but you really didn't have to..." 

"I wanted to!" Dita said with a smile, then looked at him intently, as if expecting something from him. 

The martial artist found himself in a very awkward situation. Here she was, giving him a present, and he felt like a louse for not having anything for her in return. He looked about and saw some coal in a small bucket near the boarding ramp. Apparently, the hanger crews were planning to use the coal for eyes when they started building snowmen in the Bio-Park. He got an inspiration. 

"Would you just close your eyes for a minute?"

Dita looked at the Tekkaman with a bit of puzzlement. "Why?"

"Just do it." 

The redhead shrugged and closed her eyes. Slade quickly leapt down, grabbed a small lump of coal, and then began focusing his ki and quantum energy into it while squeezing. Using all the super-strength at his disposal, and his energy manipulation powers to focus a good amount of heat into the substance, he triggered a reaction which rearranged the carbon structure. A minute later, he opened his hand and smiled at the finished product. He ran back up to the Tekkabot, took out the emergency toolkit and fished out a length of string. Then, after a minute of preparation, he instructed Dita to open her eyes again. 

The girl gasped in delight as she looked down and saw what was hanging from her neck. From a humble lump of coal and some string, Slade had fashioned a rough diamond pendant. 

"Merry Christmas." Slade said as he leaned forward and gently kissed her on the forehead. 

Dita gasped again as she felt his lips touch her skin, but then Slade pointed up to a certain decoration that was hanging above them. It was a green plant with white berries that was known as Mistletoe. He gave her a wave and headed out to join the banquet before the food was all gone. 

Dita felt a warmth in heart that she had never felt before as she watched him leave. 

"Thank you... Mr... Slade." 

---------- 

Later... 

Slade yawned as he entered his quarters. The feast had been good and he was ready to hit the sack. He then remembered that he still hadn't opened Dita's gift, which he still carried. He decided that now would be as good a time as any. With one pull, the lid popped off and out flew a toy flying saucer with a Santa Claus hat. An electronic voice that sounded like Dita's began wishing him a Merry Christmas then exploded into a cartoon figure of himself in a Santa Claus suit. However, she called it Santa Alien. 

_Figures. Oh well... I guess it's the thought that counts._ Slade then prepared for bed. 

---------- 

On the bridge, Buzom and the captain were enjoying a glass of eggnog together before turning in. 

"Well, we've made it through another year." The old woman commented, in which her first officer agreed. "We've seen a lot of things and been through many battles, but we can still count our blessings and be thankful." 

"Yes." Buzom nodded. "And I must admit, that Slade is not quite what I expected. That was a wonderful dinner that he cooked for the crew."

The ancient woman smiled and chuckled. "Oh I knew that he was someone special, and not because of his powers. Though many of the crew won't admit it, he's already won all of our hearts and I sometimes wonder where we'd be without him." 

"Yes." 

The captain then finished off her eggnog. "In any case, I'm glad for this time of year in which we can forget our worries for at least one day." 

---------- 

Enjoy it while you can Magno, for on the Harvest Homeworld... 

"Progress report." 

"The project is well underway and we expect it to be completed within a week." The tech replied as he gestured to a large suspension chamber, which had a humna figure floating within it. 

"Excellent." One of the Harvest leaders replied. Behind him were his collegues as they had decided to check on the status of their new projects. "We will be sending one of the main ships to the Melanos system to oversee the skin collections. Our projections show that the Nirvana will be nearing that sector within a few days. I trust that the new countermeasures against the Tekkadreads will be ready by then?" 

"Yes masters. Not only the Tekkadread countermeasures, but also our solution to the Tekkaman Slade problem. I believe that with all the data that we've collected, we can create a far superior weapon against him." The tech gestured to the chamber. "Although, it is costing us some very good human organs..." The tech looked on hungrily at the contents of the cylinder. 

The tech's masters shook their heads and gave their underling a glare. The tech could look, but not touch. The leader who spoke walked up to the cylinder. "This will be a small price to pay. Once we have eliminated the threat of the Tekkaman, we shall be free to harvest once more. This will be the last battle of the Tekkaman Slade, for this shall be our weapon... our sword against the one whom opposes us. Therefore, we shall call it... Saber!" 

To be continued... 

Author's Notes 

Well, that takes care of the Christmas episode. The scenes regarding the Harvesters now hint at the connection between them and the Radam. There are only three more chapters to go! As for what's in that cylinder, you guessed it! Next chapter will deal with mutiny, and Slade's encounter with another race that the Earth wishes to harvest. 

(1) Just remember that Slade used to be Ranma, and he had a real good memory when it came to food. That's one of the very few things that was retained after the Tekkaman Power process had changed him. 

(2) The first time Barnette had gotten showed up was between ch.9 and 10 in the songfic, Believe It Or Not. 


	13. Chapter 11: A Place to Belong

**TEKKADREAD**

Disclaimer: Why ask why? 

: Thoughts 

**Chapter 11**

**A Place to Belong **

Slade sighed as he balanced a couple of cartons in his arms, while following Dita through a food storage room. He didn't know why he agreed to be her pack mule, but when she came at him with those sad, puppy dog eyes, he caved in like a house of playing cards. Just what was it about him that couldn't stand to see a girl cry? 

"All I need now are some carrots." The redhead stated as she picked up a carton off a shelf. Loading it atop the two that Slade was already carrying, she turned to make a beeline toward the exit. It was then that she saw Paiway had been hiding behind the shelf. 

"What are you doing here?" The little apprentice nurse asked. 

Dita became a bit flustered as she tried to explain without giving away the true purpose of her raiding the storeroom. "Uhh, well I'm just here to cook up something for lunch, that's all." 

Paiway became a bit disappointed, then perked up and asked, "By the way Dita, do you know what day this is?" 

Dita shrugged while smiling. "Sure, it's Thursday." 

"Anything else?" The eleven-year-old asked with hope. 

"Uh... no, I can't think of anything else." She turned to Slade. "Come on Mr. Alien!" 

The Tekkaman winced. Was it too much to ask for her to call him by his name? He could tolerate the D-Boy nickname from Gascogne and Magno, but being called Mr. Alien was getting _REALLY_ old! 

The two left the storage area, leaving a saddened girl. 

---------- 

The hanger... 

"Are you sure about this Parfat?" One of the maintenance crew asked as she watched her supervisor begin adding some new components and circuits to the Tekkabot. 

"Yep. This should give Pegas some extra firepower." The bespectacled girl replied. "I've been thinking about these upgrades for a while now." 

"But ma'am, we're talking about tinkering with something that we know next-to-nothing about. We've already scanned Slade and his crystal several times and we _STILL_ don't have a clue as to how the Tekkaman Power System works." 

"Not quite." Parfat interjected as she closed up a panel. "After analyzing the last few battles, I think I may have an idea as to how Slade's Voltekker works. If I'm right, these new modifications should be able to enhance the Voltekker... once I get all the bugs worked out." 

"You _WANT_ to make that thing stronger?! Isn't it powerful enough as it is?!" 

"Well..." The chief engineer began. "You have to admit that Slade has been our best weapon against the aliens, especially with the Dreads. Then again, there's always the chance that we might come across something that even he can't handle after combining. I wanted to make sure that we have another option." 

"Yeah, but these modifications that you're planning will take days to install."

"Well, we're not under attack now, are we?" 

---------- 

Parfat was correct to begin preparations, for the Nirvana's crew and Slade would soon need them. On the home world of the Harvesters, another project was already well on its way to completion. 

"We've imprinted all of Tekkaman Slade's known battle tactics from our drones' recordings, into the subject's cerebral cortex. He'll be able to counter every one of his moves and perform at a much higher rate." The tech declared as he and his colleagues worked to finish their latest project. "We've inputed all of the Tekkaman's known powers and weaponry, as well as the Tekkadreads." 

Another tech waved off that last bit of information about the enhanced dreads. In addition to the battle footage from the drones, they had been monitoring the enemy frequencies on their long-range sensors. "We've already completed the countermeasures for those fusion tactics. They're in their final stages of testing. Actually, the simplest way to counter those maneuvers is to prevent the Tekkaman from combining with the Dreads. The main problem is that even without combining, the Tekkaman is extremely formidable on his own, especially with that Voltekker." 

The first tech nodded as he pointed to certain areas of the figure in the gestation tube. "Well, let's see just how he fares against... the Anti-Voltekker." 

---------- 

The Nirvana's sick bay... 

"It's not fair!" Bart sulked as he and Duero discussed about their situation on the Nirvana. "We've been on this ship for months now and the others _STILL_ don't give me any respect!" When the good doctor did not answer right away, the navigator continued to whine about his lack of prestige among the women. On Tarak, he had been a figure of some repute, (of course, that was because of his position as the heir to Garsus Foods), but here on the Nirvana, the crew took little to no notice of him. Never mind the fact that he was the only person who could steer the fused craft. Without him, the ship would do nothing but drift endlessly in space. But did those women even show the slightest bit of appreciation? No. The only man those women ever talked about was... 

---------- 

"Mr. Alien, is that too heavy?" 

"Nah, I'll be fine." The Tekkaman replied as he followed the apprentice pilot down a corridor, heading to the kitchen. In his arms were three large boxes, which partially blocked his sight. As he passed by a door, he heard someone breathing heavily and decided to pause for a moment and have a look. The door was slightly opened, so he opted to take a quick peek. 

His eyes widened a bit at what he saw. This was the first time he had ever seen Celtic Midori without that silly, full-body bear suit. He had to admit that she was cute. She had a slender form and her skin was pale. Her gree-blue hair was cropped in a short style that framed her heart-shaped face nicely. When his gaze traveled down, his cheeks reddened a bit when he saw her in nothing but her undergarments. Mentally chiding himself for acting like a Peeping Tom, he shook his head and quickly turned to catch up with Dita. Unfortunately, the top box in his arms tilted the wrong way and Slade had to swerve to the other side to right himself. As a result, he bumped into the door, causing it to slide completely open. Just as he stopped the cartons from falling to the floor, he found himself facing a scantily clad girl. 

Celtic Midori's reaction was predictable. 

"AIIIIIIIIYYYYEEEEEEEE! PERVERT!" 

_**WHABOOM!**_

As Slade lay face-first on the floor, he wondered just where she had produced that huge hammer. 

---------- 

The sick bay... 

"So what can I do so that the others will give me more respect?" Bart asked. 

The physician thought about it for a while then decided to use a story to explain. "Once upon a time, there was a man with very short hair, and he wanted to part of a group. The problem was that they all had very long hair. The decided that the best way to join that group was to have long hair as well. So he bought himself a wig and asked to join. They accepted and he became a part of the group. However, some time later, they discovered that he really had short hair but they accepted him into their group anyway, since they had all become good friends. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?" 

Bart thought for a minute, then nodded as if he comprehended. "I get it!" He then went off to his quarters. 

---------- 

Meanwhile, on the bridge...

Ezra was at her post. However, her mind was not on her duties, but rather on what she would name her child when she was born. She had been compiling a list of names and wondered which one would suit the baby. The little robot Pyoro had been insisting since the Christmas party to name the baby Pyoro 2, but Ezra didn't like that one. However, she was just too kind-hearted to tell the Nivana's mascot that she was going to choose a name other than Pyoro 2 for her daughter. 

As she was still deep in thought, the bridge doors opened to reveal the navigator. When everyone turned around, their eyes opened wide when they saw... 

---------- 

The kitchen... 

Slade grumbled as he nursed a large lump on his head.

Dita hummed to herself as she continued preparing a special meal for a certain somebody. She had already assured Slade that what had happened had just been a misunderstanding and told him that not to worry about it. She was certain that Celtic had already forgotten about it. 

---------- 

Not really... 

"Oh, so you finally took that silly costume off, have you?" Jura remarked as Celtic came into the recreation hall, still in her undergarments and carrying the bear suit. Several of the other girls and Pyoro were in the room as well. 

Celtic was frantic as she shook her head. "You don't understand! I only wore this suit because I didn't want any part of my body touching those men! I didn't even want to breathe the same air as they do!" 

"What's the big deal? They aren't so bad." Xian Pu said. 

"That's what you think!" Celtic shot back. "Just a minute ago, one of them was peeping in my room! It was Slade!" 

This immediately got the attention of several females as they began to have second thoughts about having the men aboard their ship. 

----------

Meanwhile, back in the sick bay... 

"I can't believe that you did _THAT_." Duero said as he addressed Bart. The navigator was wearing a yellow sundress, lipstick, blush, high heels and a long, blond wig. He had caused quite a stir when he came to the bridge. 

"This is all your fault! You told me that story about having long hair would get the others to respect me more!"

"I merely wanted to imply that it takes time for relationships and that you have to _EARN_ one's respect. I didn't tell you to go out and dress like that." 

The navigator facefaulted as he realized that he had made a ridiculous mistake. 

---------- 

In the kitchen, Slade noticed that Dita's eyes were welling up with moisture. 

"Is something the matter? Why are you crying?" Slade asked as he got up and walked toward her. 

"No, it's nothing. It's just these onions." Dita insisted as she wiped her eyes. On the counter in front of her were some diced onions. Chopping them up had caused tears to emerge. However, both she and Slade didn't know that they were being monitored. 

---------- 

A few minutes before... 

Paiway had being feeling a bit left out, ever since Dita had been spending more time with Slade and less with her. Before encountering the men, Dita and Paiway had been close and the young apprentice nurse had always been with her. Today was supposed to have been special, since it was the first anniversary since Paiway had joined up with Magno's pirates. Apparently, Dita seemed to have forgotten about it. All she ever did was go on and on about her 'Mr. Alien.' 

She decided to go look for Dita, but when she got the galley, she saw something that made her temper boil. There was Dita, crying while she was facing Slade! Before she even had time to think, she whipped out her mini-camcorder and filmed the scene, without even saying her trademarked 'Pai-Check.' 

Just as Slade and Dita noticed her, she quickly rushed out of the galley and down the hall. 

Slade looked in the direction of Paiway's departure, then addressed Dita. "What was that all about?" 

"I don't know." The redhead replied as she rubbed her eyes. "Wow, these onions are really strong!" 

"Here, let me help you." Slade gently nudged her to one side, picked up a knife and diced the onions at such high speeds, there was no time for tears. 

"Wow! You're amazing Mr. Alien! Where did you learn to cook?" 

"Oh, it's just a few things I picked up on my travels." 

---------- 

The recreation hall... 

"I'm telling you that we shouldn't have those men running around freely!" Celtic said. 

"Oh, what's the big deal?" Meia commented. She had been listening to the other girls as the debate about the men began to heat up. "So he saw you in your underwear. I'm sure he didn't mean it. That's nothing to get so upset about." 

"How would you feel if he saw _YOU_ in your bra and panties!?" Celtic shot back. 

Meia's cheeks blushed a bit as she had an image of herself in her underwear in front of Slade. She shook her head and replied. "Still, you're blowing this little incident out of proportion. I'm sure that..." 

"Celtic's right!" Paiway exclaimed as she burst into the room. Everyone turned to her as she brought up a monitor and inserted a video disk. "Men are animals! Look at this!" She pushed a button and the monitor started displaying what she had just filmed. "See? That man made Dita cry!" 

The elicited a number of gasps among the women as those who were unsure about the men, now began taking sides. 

"How horrible!" 

"That's absolutely unforgivable!" 

"You and Dita were best friends until that _MAN_ showed up!" 

"He should be punished!" 

Meia shook her head again as she got up from her seat and tried to diffuse the situation. Now was not the time to for this, especially with the aliens constantly attacking. "Hold on! Let's not start jumping to conclusions!" 

"Men are scum!" 

"We should have kept them locked up!" 

"Why did we even take them aboard in the first place?" 

The Dread leader held up her hands in an effort to quell the dissent among the crew. "Settle down! This isn't getting us anywhere!" 

It was at that time that Barnette saw the perfect opportunity. Her hostility against Slade and men in general had not lessened since the journey began and now, it was payback time for all those times that Slade had showed her up. "You're right Meia. Arguing isn't getting us anywhere." 

Meia sighed in relief. "Well, I'm glad that someone's listening..." 

"It's time to take action!" 

"What?" 

Barnette began rallying those who were against the males. "Listen up, everyone! The men aboard this ship have been without control for too long and I say we put a stop to this!" 

"_YEAH_!" Several girls said in unison. 

"Are we going to let those men do as they please?" 

"_NO_!" 

"Who's more important? Men or women?" 

"_WOMEN_!" 

"I say we throw them back into the brig where they belong! This is a female ship and men have no place on it, right?" 

"_YEAH_!" 

Meia developed a large sweatdrop. She wondered how this had gone so far out of control. She wasn't the only one. Several members of the Warrior Squadron, including Xian Pu did not agree with Barnette. Ukyo was also there and since the Christmas party, she had been more tolerant of the presence of the males, especially Slade. They all began following the group that sided with Barnette to see what would happen next. 

---------- 

The galley... 

"Perfect! Paiway will be so surprised!" Dita clasped her hands and looked down at her handiwork. With Slade's help, she had prepared a special anniversary meal for the apprentice nurse to celebrate her first year with the pirates. 

"I'm sure that she'll like it." Slade commented. However, at that moment, his danger sense went off as the kitchen door opened to reveal several members of the crew in full space suits and aiming blasters at him. At the head of the group was Barnette, who was holding out an old-style handgun. 

"DON'T MOVE!" She commanded. 

"Uh... excuse me?" Slade asked in complete puzzlement. 

"What's going on?" Dita asked. She didn't like the way the others were scowling at Mr. Alien. 

"What's going on, Dita, is that we're putting the all the men back into the brig!" 

"Huh? What for? I haven't done anything." Slade was completely bamboozled, then said, "Look, if it's about what happened this morning, I can explain..." 

"Don't hand us any excuses, you pervert!" Barnette said while gesturing with her gun. "All men are the enemy and they should be treated as the enemy!" 

"Now hold on a minute! I don't what the _HELL_ has gotten all of you riled up, but I can tell you right now that I'm _NOT_ the enemy!" 

"Save it!" Another girl cried out. "We all saw how evil you are! You made Dita cry!" 

"No he didn't!" Dita interjected as she pointed to the dish on the table. "I was cutting up some onions for Paiway's anniversary surprise!" 

Behind Barnette, Paiway gasped as she saw the food and began to realize that she may have made a grave error. She suddenly felt like looking for a nice big rock to hid under. However, Barnette wasn't about to change her stance. 

"There's no use in defending this scum, Dita! He's a man, and all men are the enemy!" She gestured to Slade. "Now you either come quietly or..." Her voice trailed off, letting Slade to fill in the blank. 

Slade was silent for a long time as he gazed upon the angry mob. For a while, he had actually believed that it might work out. This had been the longest he had ever stayed in one place. The Nirvana was a place where he had felt that he belonged. Now it seemed that it had been nothing but an impossible dream. 

"I see that there's no use in talking, is there? All right... so be it." He went into a ready stance and motioned for Dita to step back. "However, if you think I'm going to let you put me in the brig, when I haven't committed any crime... then you're sadly mistaken, Barnette. You want me? Come and get me." 

Barnette snorted as she motioned for the crowd to take aim with their blasters. However, she noticed that several of them weren't obeying. She saw that the Vanguard pilots and a few of the Register girls were actually frowning at her, not Slade. 

"What's the matter with you? Are you afraid of one man? Go get him!" 

One of the girls sheepishly replied, "Well... it's not that we're afraid, Barnette. At least... not entirely. It's just that... he's done so much for us. I mean, he did save Meia's life and got us out of that asteroid field. Then he cooked that wonderful Christmas dinner..." 

"He's helped out at the Register." Ukyo added. "And he did save my life." 

"He... is the leader of the Vanguards." Xian Pu stated. Several members of the Warrior Squadron nodded as well. They had grown to respect their commander. He was a harsh taskmaster when it came to their training sessions, but he was fair, and he never put them through any kind of hardship that he himself wouldn't go through. 

Slade smiled at this loyalty, which made it even harder for him as he addressed those that still believed in him. "I appreciate your faith in me. But, it seems that the majority doesn't want me here, so I guess it would be best if I left." 

Slade began taking a step forward, but Barnette blocked his path while pointing the muzzle of her weapon at his face. 

"HOLD IT! You're not going anywhere but the brig!" 

In a flash, Slade blurred forward before she could even _THINK_ to pull the trigger. The gun disappeared momentarily, then reappeared in her hand, still pointing at him. The Tekkaman then held up a narrow, rectangular object in his right hand. "Your gun is not going to work without ammo." 

Barnette's eyes widened as she looked down at her weapon and realized that the clip had been removed, plus the round she had in the chamber. In a heartbeat, he had rendered her weapon useless. 

Using his thumb, Slade began ejecting the rounds from the clip. Holding out his other hand, he collected all fourteen rounds, then casually crushed them into a mass of metal and gunpowder. He then crushed the clip along with the rounds, creating a small sphere and tossed it over his shoulder. It made a pinging sound as it clattered onto the floor. 

That little display unnerved several females and many of them were reconsidering about joining Barnette's side against Slade. 

"GET HIM!" Jura's friend shouted. 

Those who did follow Barnette rushed at the Tekkaman, hoping to overwhelm him by sheer numbers. However, that was when Slade... retaliated. 

Knowing that these girls were simply misguided, he refrained from using anything but his most passive techniques. Since the kitchen did not offer much space for fighting, Slade found himself in very limited, close-quarters combat. However, that also worked in his favor, since the females couldn't fire their weapons without running the risk of shooting each other. Instead they held out their blaster rifles like staves and attempted to pummel him into submission. However, the Tekkaman was nothing if not, adaptable. 

Ducking under a swing aimed for his head; Slade pivoted on one foot while using the other in a footsweep. As the girl went down, he hopped up to avoid a stab at his chest, then kicked the rifle out of another attacker's hand. The weapon went flying and knocked out two others who tried to get him from his left flank. Grabbing the outstretched arm of a third female, he used her forward momentum to swing her about and toss her back into the main body of the group, which was still at the front door. Barnette and her followers went down and became a tangled heap. 

Slade ran for the exit, pausing only to give the Warrior Squadron's second-in-command his final instructions. 

"Take care of the squadron Xian Pu. I leave them to you." 

The Amazon nodded respectfully, as she and the other pilots of the Vanguards gave him a clear path to freedom. They made no attempt to get in his way as he dashed out into the hallway. They couldn't stop him in any case. They had improved in their martial arts, but he was still their sensei. 

Barnette angrily glared at Xian Pu as she got back to her feet. "Why didn't you stop him!? He's getting away!" 

Xian Pu and the other girls under her new command stood firm against the Dread pilot and the others. The warrior girl shook her head and said, "You want him? Get him yourself! We're not going to be a part of this!" 

Both women glared at each other and it looked as if things might come to blows. Barnette was a tough fighter, but she knew that she didn't stand a chance against Xian Pu's hand-to-hand combat skills. Added to the fact was that Slade had been training her and the rest of the Warrior Squadron. The gun would have given Barnette an edge, if it were loaded. Behind her, the girls who had sided with her tensed up, readying their weapons. They were prepared to fight against those who stood by the men. On the other side, the Warrior Squadron and several Register girls also prepared for imminent conflict. 

Jura's friend gritted her teeth. That stupid male had turned female against female on the Nirvana. This was his entire fault, and she didn't want to hurt her fellow crewmembers. Barnette growled as she motioned for her subordinates to follow her in pursuit of Slade. 

As the others left, Dita stood in absolute shock. How had this happened? 

As Warrior Squadron watched them run around a corner, one girl came up to Xian Pu and asked, "Aren't we going to stop them?" 

The Amazon was also unsure of what to do at the moment. Like Barnette, she didn't want to fight against her fellow crewmates, but at the same time she held great respect for Slade. In the end, she just stood there as chaos began running rampant throughout the ship. 

---------- 

The bridge... 

"What? There's a mutiny?" Magno exclaimed when she had just received a call from Dita. 

Buzom's brows furrowed when she heard the news. Why did this have to happen now? The Nirvana was halfway home and the last thing they needed was a breakdown in the ranks. "What's going on, Dita?" 

Dita hurriedly gave the Sub-Commander an abridged version of what had occurred. BC responded with a look of confusion. "They started a mutiny over that?" 

However, some of the bridge crew, who was listening in on the communications, began to take sides. 

"I always knew that men were nothing but trouble!" 

"They should all be thrown into the brig!" 

"Who needs men?" 

"Oh my! Why are they so angry with Slade?" Ezra exclaimed. "He didn't do anything." 

The old captain of the pirates developed a huge sweatdrop. Things were getting out of hand. 

---------- 

Slade dashed by the sick bay with his pack slung over his shoulder. He had just stopped by his quarters to pick up his belongings, then made a beeline for the nearest airlock, which was near the hanger. As he rushed by, Duero and Bart wondered just what was going on. At that instant, several women came into the medical facility and aimed their weapons at them. In minutes, the confused males of the Nirvana were herded into the brig. 

---------- 

The hanger... 

Parfat was currently working on Pegas when Slade suddenly came barreling into the area. He slammed his fist on the entrance door controls. A huge slab of steel alloy came down, blocking off the hanger bay from the rest of the ship. Since the airlock had been sealed off, he had opted to go out the main hanger. 

Pegas looked toward his master and asked a question while gesturing to the pack slung over his shoulder. "What is going on? Where is Slade going?" 

Slade shook his head while pausing to answer. "I can't believe they'd turn on me like that." He looked up at his robotic partner with a bit of sadness in his eyes. "I'm sorry Pegas, but I'm afraid that this is goodbye." 

"What are you talking about Slade?" Parfat asked. "What's happening?" 

"You tell me. One minute I'm helping Dita with a surprise for Paiway, and the next minute I became Number One on the Nirvana's Hit List. I have to go..." 

"Pegas will go with Slade." The Tekkabot said solemnly as it disengaged from the various devices it was hooked up to. 

"Hey wait!" Paiway exclaimed. "I haven't finished with the modifications yet!" 

"Pegas, you don't have to..." Slade began. 

"Pegas will go with Slade!" The modified Vanguard insisted. 

When there was a dull clanging noise at the sealed door, Slade began weighing his options. In a few minutes, Barnette and the others would break through. Having Pegas with him would help him conserve energy, once he got out into space. He looked up to the machine and couldn't help but appreciate the robot's loyalty. "Are you sure Pegas? Once we go out, we may never come back." 

"Pegas will go with Slade!" 

Slade took a deep breath, then finally nodded. "All right. Pegas power on!" 

The Tekkabot nodded as it opened its cockpit. "Affirmative." 

Slade gave Parfat a farewell wave before entering the Tekkabot and initiated the launch sequence. 

---------- 

"Captain, the Tekkabot has just launched!" 

Buzom and Magno had a good idea of who was aboard Pegas. They raised the Tekkabot. 

"D-Boy, where are you going?" Magno asked. 

Slade's face appeared on the main monitor with a sad smile. "I should have known that it wouldn't have lasted. For while... I actually believed that it would work and... maybe, I could call the Nirvana a place where I'd belong. I've searched for so long to find someplace that I could call home... But I know when I'm not wanted, so... I guess this is goodbye, Captain. It was great working with you. Take care." 

"Slade! Wait...!" 

However, the main monitor turned off as Pegas sped off into the black void of space. 

---------- 

Some time later... 

Slade never truly realized how lonely it was in space until now. In his previous journeys, he had been constantly on the move and never formed any long-term relationships with anyone. That is until he had been accepted on the Nirvana. He had gotten used to being with people and now, he was alone again. Well, not entirely alone, since he did have Pegas. However, as welcomed as its company was, the Tekkaman had grown accustomed to being with humans. Now he found himself without a home, nor any place in particular he could go to. 

As he contemplated on what to do next, his long-range sensors began picking up something approaching his coordinates. 

---------- 

Back on the Nirvana... 

Magno knew that the mutiny had done nothing but cripple the ship. Without Bart, the Nirvana could not do anything, but maintain its present course on autopilot. That meant no evasive maneuvers and the ship was a sitting duck to attacks. They didn't even have the option of running away, Bart's specialty. 

Without Duero, the crew would have to rely on the mediocre medical skills of Paiway, which many dreaded to return to. The young girl had some potential, but she lacked both the overall knowledge and medical training of her male counterpart. Duero had proven himself an able physician, despite the fact that he knew very little about female anatomy. Most importantly, he gave the kind of caring attitude that was essential to treating patients. 

Most importantly, the pirates had lost their greatest tactical advantage against their relentless enemy. No Slade meant no Tekkadreads. It had already been proven that the Dread fighters were not enough by themselves. They didn't have Pegas as a support craft, since it left with D-Boy. Not that it mattered since Slade was the only one who could pilot the Tekkabot. Even with the Vanguards, Magno knew that they were at a serious disadvantage. Xian Pu was an able commander, but the Warrior Squadron functioned at its best with Slade in the lead. Furthermore, the schism that was formed between the Dread and Vanguard pilots would most definitely cause a drop in moral. The Warrior Squadron still retained their loyalty to their former male commander, which caused a lot of friction with the pilots that followed Barnette, who was now having a rally against the men in the recreation room. 

There was also some dissent in the Register. Slade had often helped out with Gascogne's staff and his work was top-notch. However, those who admired him were now at odds with those who were jealous of his skills. 

Magno wondered just how the absence of one male could affect the lives of so many. As soon as that question was in her mind, she knew the answer. Slade was one of a kind. In just a short period of time, he had touched everyone's hearts, whether good or bad, and now he had been driven away. Emptiness had formed among the Nirvana's crew and the old pirate captain knew that things were going to get worse. 

At that point, Meia's face appeared on the monitor. "Captain..." 

"Yes, Meia? What is it?" 

"Well... Id like to request a search and retrieval operation... for Slade." 

"What?" Both Buzom and Magno were a bit surprised by this turn of events.

"Mr. Alien! Come back!" Dita blubbered as her face appeared on another vid-screen. 

"Meia, tell us why you'd want to risk encountering our enemies in a search?" BC inquired. 

"Well..." The Dread Leader began. "Technically speaking... he is second-in-command of the Nirvana's defense, isn't he? And... well, we can't form the Tekkadreads without him and... they're our most effective weapons against the Harvesters." 

"I see. So it's from a tactical standpoint that you want to look for him, eh?" Magno said with a bit of a grin. 

"Well... that's part of the reason..." 

Just then another vid-sceen pooped up, followed by another, then another. Soon the entire airspace of the bridge was flooded. 

"We have to find the commander!" 

"We need him!" 

"No we don't!" 

"Aw shut up! What do you know?" 

"I can't believe that he'd just leave us like that!" 

"We can still catch him if we launch!" 

"This is all your fault, Barnette!" 

"I was hoping he'd cook for us again!" 

"What are we going to do without the commander?" 

"We don't need men!" 

"Men are useless!" 

"We can't win without him!" 

"We can win!" 

"He was supposed to teach us that new move!" 

The chatter went on and on for several minutes and Magno finally motioned for Buzom to shut off all inter-ship communications. Just before everything was turned off one voice was heard above all the others. 

"MR. ALIEN... COME BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!" 

---------- 

Meanwhile, somewhere in space... 

"WHOA!" Slade directed the Tekkabot to dodge the sudden barrage of laser and particle beams. He didn't know why that fleet of ships started firing on him, but as soon as he saw those lines of light heading toward him, he immediately put the Paksis-powered Vanguard through evasive maneuvers. 

He counted around fifty or so medium battle cruisers, but he didn't recognize the design of the ships. He assumed that they were from a planet that he hadn't visited before. He also glimpsed dots of light emerging from some of the vessels and correctly guessed that they were fighters. Just then, a large beam shot dangerously close to where he was and he winced as it glanced off one of Pegas' arms. The alloy became charred from the intense heat. 

"Okay, that does it! I've already been fed enough crap today! I don't need to combine with Dreads! I can kick ass on my own!" The enraged Tekkaman made his crystal appear. "_TEKSETT_..." 

Suddenly, the barrage stopped as suddenly as it had begun and the Tekkabot began receiving a hail from the lead cruiser. 

"Attention unidentified fighter." 

"Huh?" Slade stopped powering up to transform as he heard a human voice. 

"We are of the Melanos Anti-Earth Defense Fleet. From what planet do you hail?"

"Say what?! You ask me where I come from _AFTER_ you shoot at me?!"

"Tell us, do you serve the Harvesters?" 

"Like _HELL_ I do! I've been fighting those (censored) damned Harvesters for (censored) months now! As for where I came from, I don't have a (censored) planet to call home. The last place I was staying at gave me the (censored) boot, for something that wasn't my (censored) fault! I'm tired, I'm hungry and now I'm royally pissed off! So are you going to ask any more stupid (censored) questions or are we going to (censored) fight? I'm ready to kick some goddamned ass after the crap I've been put through!" 

---------- 

On the lead ship's bridge, the commander addressed the officer who was operating the communications console. 

"So do you think he's from Earth?" 

"I doubt it, Captain." The officer replied. "I've never known the Earth forces to _SWEAR_ so much." 

---------- 

Later... 

"I would like to apologize for our actions." The ship's captain said as Slade was brought to the bridge. "We thought you were part of the Harvesting fleet." 

The Tekkaman noticed that a male and a female operator manned each of the bridge stations. He then nodded to the captain. "I guess that's all right. I've encountered those Harvesters too. They're real tenacious bastards. I guess I can't blame you for being a little trigger-happy." 

"We thank you for your understanding." The human captain said. "We've been battling them for a long time now and we've set up this defensive line to protect our homeworld of Melanos. We would rather die in battle, than be gathered up like vegetables!" He then brought up a holographic image of the places in which the Harvesters had already attacked. "So far we've been able to repel all attacks against them, but the neighboring worlds have not been faring as well." 

Slade's eyes narrowed as he saw that the locations of the targeted worlds looked familiar somehow then shook his head. "That's all well and good, but being on the defensive all the time isn't going to work." 

"What do you mean?" 

"It's been my experience that being on the defense without attacking makes one very limited. Eventually your enemy is going to break through your defenses and then where will you be?" 

"And what would you suggest?" The captain asked with interest. 

"Well... I'm no expert on war tactics, but I do know a thing or two about fighting. A good offense might be your best bet. What I see so far from this image is that the Harvesters have already gotten a foothold in this part of the galaxy and it's only a matter of time before they overrun every human world in this sector. I've already seen a couple of worlds that have been conquered and it wasn't pretty. One planet was reduced to a wasteland and the other had no will to fight back." 

"I see." 

"Yeah, and the worst part of it was, that the second world Anpathos was so pathetic, that they didn't _NEED_ their backbones. They may as well just let those Harvesters take them. They certainly had no use for their spines." 

"We are not like those people. We are fighting to keep our vital organs!" 

"Like I said, that's all well and good, but unless you take the battle to them and destroy them first, then you're only delaying the inevitable. You can't assume anything or let down your guard. Those Harvesters will stop at nothing, and you'll have to take them down, before _THEY_ take you down... forever." 

---------- 

A little while later... 

In one of the fighter hangers, Pegas was in Standby Mode while it was being recharged and serviced. Milling about the area were several dozen male-female pairs and Slade found the coed atmosphere to be quite a change from the all-female environment he had been living in for months. The cooperation and trust between the genders greatly impressed him; not like the suspicion and hostility on the Nirvana. 

The Tekkaman's expression softened a bit as he remembered back to all the good times he had on the pirate vessel. Not everyone had been hostile toward him. People like Gascogne, Magno, Meia, Jura, the Warrior Squadron, Xian Pu, Ukyo, some of the Register girls, and... Dita. They had accepted him and treated him fairly. It was almost like being in a family. He missed the training sessions with the Vanguard pilots and the work in the Register. There were those card games with Gasconge. Oh sure he lost to her all the time, but he never minded the tough, yet easy-going head supplier. He also missed the head-butting with the strong-willed Meia, Jura's fame-hungry antics and... even though he hated to admit it, he missed being called D-Boy or... Mr. Alien. 

Slade shook his head. Those days were over and it would best for him to move on. The Nirvana didn't want him and that was it. Now it seemed that he had found a new home with the people of Melanos. Slade then turned his head as a young, slender girl walked up to him. She looked to be in her late teens and was wearing a purple jumpsuit. She had straight, nut-brown hair and a very pleasant-looking face. She smiled at him as she held out her hand. 

"Hello. My name is Seran and I'd like to welcome you to our ship, brave traveler. Whats your name?" 

"Hi. The name's Slade and it's nice to meet you." He extended his own hand and shook hers. "So what's your position here?" 

"I'm one of the engineers." She gestured up to the Tekkabot. "Don't worry. We'll have your mecha fixed up in no time." 

"Thanks." Slade went over to his robotic partner and gazed at it for a long while. When he was silent for several minutes, Seran went up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. 

"Hey, is something wrong?" 

Slade let off a long, sad sigh before replying. "Oh, I was just thinking about a few things." He then called up to Pegas. "Are you going to be all right, Pegas?" 

The Vanguard nodded. "Affirmative. Thank you." 

Seran smiled as she looked up at Slade's partner. "That's some partner you have there. It's AI system is very advanced. Its creator must be proud." 

An image of Parfat appeared in Slade's mind and he began wondering what she and the others were doing now that he was gone. 

---------- 

The Nirvana... 

"I appreciate the food Parfat, but you'll be in trouble if the others find out about this." Duero said as he took the bento from the engineer and started eating. Parfat had promised the guards that she would watch out for the prisoners while they went for lunch. She had stashed a couple of bentos in her toolbox. 

"Well, I think it's terrible the way they're treating you! And you all had nothing to do with any of this!" Parfat said. "At the very least they should give you some decent food, instead of making you eat those horrible nutrition pellets again." 

Duero smiled as he replied, "Well, I spent all my life eating those pills, so it's really nothing. Although I must admit that this kind of food is most... enjoyable." He chewed a bit before swallowing. "I can understand why Slade ate so much of it." 

Bart snorted in disdain as he munched down on a plate of food pills, ignoring the bento that Parfat had intended to give to him. "Better watch it, doctor. It may be poisoned. You can never _TRUST_ women. That meal she's giving you could be your last." 

That particular barb cut the brown-haired girl to the quick and she felt as if he had stabbed at her very heart. The doctor felt her pain in his own heart. Contrary to popular belief, Duero Mcfile was not the cold and aloof person he appeared to be. He was human and there were times in which he felt the need to shed tears. Seeing Parfat's saddened expression from Bart's insensitive remark made him feel as if her spark of life was being snuffed out. 

"Please, pardon my associate's rudeness." He gave the blonde man a bit of a glare before turning back to her. "However, in all honesty, can you really blame him for being so bitter? I myself feel a bit... perturbed at this situation we're in." 

Parfat nodded slowly as she quickly hid her tears. "You have every right to be angry at what happened. I just... can't believe that they did this to you! It's like they've forgotten everything that we've all been through together. And they've also forgotten how important you men are to this ship! We can't move the Nirvana without Bart." 

"Hmpf! You should have thought of that before tossing us in here!" Bart scoffed. 

Parfat winced but continued. "And you, Duero. I don't think we've ever had a doctor like you. Paiway's trying her best, but she can't handle all those patients. She doesn't have your experience or know-how. Some of the crew who were injured in the last few battles are getting worse, because you're not there to treat them! They were recovering nicely when you were in the sick bay, but now..." 

Duero shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, Parfat. I'd like to help. I want to help. As a doctor, it is my duty to heal, but I can't do anything from in here. If the captain could somehow get us out, then perhaps..." 

The engineer shook her head sadly. "Right now, the Captain and Buzom's hands are tied. The crew has been split into two main groups. Barnette is rallying the ones who are against having you men on board." 

"And the other group?" 

"The Warrior Squadron and half of the Register girls still believe in you, Bart and... most of all, Slade. If the Captain or the Commander take either side, then it may end up into a bigger mutiny." 

"So there's nothing that can be done?" 

"Right now, all we can do is hope." 

"And what about you Parfat? Whose side are you on?" 

The girl's cheeks became tinged with pink as she looked at Duero's face. It seemed as if that one-eyed gaze of his was looking into her very soul. She gulped as she got her mouth to work. "I'm... I mean, the engineering staff is kind of neutral. You see, we don't want to get involved in these politics. Our job is to keep the ship running, not be part of a mutiny." 

"I didn't ask you what side the engineering station is on. I asked you which side _YOU_ were on."

Parfat twiddled her index fingers before replying in a quiet voice. "I think... you know which side I'm on." She pointed to the bento box in Duero's hands. 

Duero smirked at her nervousness and continued eating. "I can't understand how all of this suddenly happened." 

Bart grumbled as he polished off his food-pills, then tossed his tray away in disgust. "This is all Slade's fault! The women got mad at him and he ran off, leaving us to take the blame!" 

The physician shook his head without turning toward him. "From what I heard, he didn't have much of a choice. It's ironic though, that the one person who kept us together would be the one that would be driven away." 

"What are you talking about?" The navigator asked with some irritation. 

"Think about it, Bart. Without Slade, we would have never gotten as far as we have." 

"Huh?" 

"And I'm not just talking about how close we are to Tarak and Mejele. Just look at what we've accomplished so far. Men and women were actually working _TOGETHER_. Back on Tarak and Mejele, such a thing would have been considered unthinkable, but here we made it a reality." 

"Hmpf! A fat lot of good that did us!" Bart scoffed. 

"It did everyone good!" The doctor insisted. "And it was because Slade showed the way. When he first combined with a Dread, he showed that it was possible. He knew that in order to survive, we would have to work with the women and he did so, without hesitation. With the power that he had, he could have abandoned us a long time ago, but he didn't. He stayed with the males and the females. He showed that males and females could be allies, not enemies. He didn't care what gender anyone was. He treated everyone the same way." 

Duero paused as he saw that comprehension was beginning to dawn on Bart. He nodded then continued. "And look what we've done so far, because of that cooperation. Time and time again, working with the females, we were able to defeat a force that would have destroyed us all if we had been working alone. And think of how efficient this ship had become, with us constantly working side-by-side with the females. Slade helped out not only in combat, but also with the Register. He actually taught the females how to fight with the Van-Types, making them an even more effective combat unit than some of Tarak's elite squadrons. Look at me. I may be a good doctor, but even I couldn't have kept up with the patient load without Paiway. Finally there's you. You may have felt that you weren't getting the respect you deserved, but you held a very important position. The others may have joked about you, but Slade never did. He knew of your importance, because when you get right down to it, we all depended on you, to get us home. All of this was possible... because of Slade. Through thick and thin, he always believed in our strength and kept the bond between the men and the women strong. It was that bond which has now been severed..." 

Bart became very introspective as he considered his comrade's words. Finally, after a long period of silence, he spoke three words to no one in particular. 

"Slade... come back!" 

---------- 

The Melanos Fleet... 

"YUCK! What is this stuff?!" Slade spat out the drink that Seran had handed to him as they were taking a break from servicing Pegas. 

The girl's life-mate had joined them. "It's a special Vitamin C and nutrient drink." The girl replied. "It's good for your skin." 

"My skin?" 

Seran's mate nodded. "Yes. The Harvesters are after us for our skin." 

"Figures." Slade snorted as he went to the Tekkabot's cockpit and punched up a navigational map. He began lighting up several areas and gestured to each dot, which represented a planet. "For every world, they take collect one type of human body part for themselves. Were nothing but cattle to them. Right here, we encountered a dead world where the people had been harvested for their blood. The enemy left a nasty surprise for us there. Over here is Anpathos, where the people gave up their spinal columns to their so-called god Munya, which were the Harvesters. Now here is Tarak and Mejele. From the information we were able to get from Rabat, (after I pounded him), the Harvesters wish to take their reproductive organs." 

"You said _WE_ encountered them." Seran interrupted. "Were you with someone else?" 

"Yeah... for a while." Slade replied sadly then shook his head to clear it. "In any case, here's what your captain showed me." The Tekkaman punched in a few more coordinates and indicated each one. "This is your home planet Melanos, which the Harvesters are after for your skin. On this planet, they took their livers. This one was for their spleens. On this one, the heart and this one, the lungs." Slade suddenly stopped as he took a long look at the interstellar map he had outlined. 

"What's wrong?" Seran's significant other asked. 

"Something... about this seems familiar." He said not a word as he tried to recall where he had seen this before. Then he snapped his fingers as he remembered back to when Parfat had decoded the information module that Rabat had. "Pegas, do you have those log files and navigational charts from Rabat's info-cube?" 

"Affirmative." The Tekkabot replied. It had been hooked up to the Nirvana's main data system before it had left with Slade. 

"Bring up the navigational logs of his trade routes for the last 12 months and overlay them with the chart I've just made." The Vanguard did so and Slade growled as he saw that both maps were identical. 

"What is it, Slade? Who's this Rabat that you're talking about?" Seran asked. 

Slade growled even more as he answered. "I met the scumbag a few months ago. Rabat happens to be an interstellar mercenary, con artist and trader, but I think a more appropriate term would be _TRAITOR_!" 

Both Seran and her mate were confused as Slade exited the Pegas' cockpit and headed back to the bridge. 

---------- 

"I can't believe it." The ship's captain said as he gazed at the evidence being projected in front of him. "I've heard of this Rabat and I knew that he was a scoundrel. He had cheated several of our colonies with his lying tactics, but this... I can't believe that he would betray the entire human race." 

"The evidence is all here, sir." The former Saotome said. "I've cross-referenced the dates on that info-cube with the times in which each planet was attacked by the Harvesters. They match to within days, sometimes hours after he left those worlds. Every planet he's visited, the Harvesters came and those worlds died. That's way too many connections to be considered as mere coincidence. I've always wondered how he could have survived traveling alone without being attacked by them, and now I know. He's nothing but a _RAT_... a _RAT BASTARD_ and a _TRAITOR_! He's working for them!" 

"I still can't believe that someone would sell out the entire human race." 

"It makes sense when you think about it. He comes to a planet or colony, sells his junk, cheats good people out of their hard-earned money, then relays information to the Harvesters about a planet's defenses and what kind of organs are usable. I've already encountered a planet in which he sold a defective water purifier to a colony. Ever heard of a planet called Zervin?" 

"Zervin? That planet no longer exists." The captain stated. 

"What?" 

"It's true. Our most distant outposts have been tracking the progress of our enemies and our ally Zervin was obliterated... nine months ago." 

"That can't be! I left that planet nine months ago and that colony was fine after I found them a supply of fresh water!" 

"How long ago did Rabat leave Zervin when you got there, and when did you leave that planet?" 

"I got there a day after he cheated those people with that defective purifier, and I left two days later after finding them a supply of untainted water." 

The Melanos captain was silent as he matched dates, then nodded. "That makes it about right. The Harvest Fleet came a few days later and stripped every man, woman and child of their pituitary and adrenal glands. Zervin is now a planetary graveyard." 

The shock hit Slade like a meteor and his throat became dry. All those innocent people! All the things he had done for them... had been for naught! All because of Rabat! Slade's eyes took on a murderous look as he saw that con-man in his mind. He was going to pay! The Tekkaman would make certain that Rabat would be sent straight to _HELL_! 

At that moment, alarms went off as the ship's long-range scanners had picked up something large, heading toward the Melanos Defense Fleet. Slade glanced to the main monitor and what he saw made his blood ran cold. 

They were here. 

---------- 

Several hours later... 

"Barnette is going to be real steamed when we get back, Xian. Im not too sure if the Captain or Buzom would like our disobeying orders." 

The Amazon snorted in disdain as she and her Vangaurd group sped through space. "You think I care what Barnette thinks? And as I recall, the Captain and the Number One _DIDN'T_ order me not to go, so I'm not really breaking orders, am I? I didn't ask for all of you to come with me. Get back to the Nirvana. That's _MY_ order." 

The girls of the Warrior Squadron all shook their heads and responded. 

"No can do." 

"We all know why you're out here." 

"Yeah, and we figure that it would be much easier to search if we all help." 

"We'll have a better chance of finding him this way, and well be able to cover each others backs if the enemy shows up." 

"We all think that it was a mistake to have driven him off." 

"That's right! The Warrior Squadron looks after its own!" 

"So let's go find the Commander!" 

Xian Pu found herself overwhelmed by her subordinates' determination to find their leader. She sighed while shaking her head and smiled. "All right. We'll probably get thrown into the brig when we get back to the Nirvana, but it'll be worth it, if we can bring Slade home... where he belongs!" 

"_RIGHT_" The others chorused. 

However, just as they were about to peel off into a search pattern, three more individuals suddenly joined the squadron. The three Paksis-enhanced Dreads came alongside of the Vanguards. Meia's Dread came on Xian's right as the pilot hailed her. 

"Just what do you think you're doing, Xian Pu?" Meia asked. "Your squadron wasn't given any authorization to launch!" 

"Oh really?" Slade's second retorted. "And exactly _WHAT_ are you doing out here? I don't recall the Captain giving any orders for you to be deployed either." 

Meia became a bit flustered as she tried to explain herself. "Uh... well, I thought it would be best to patrol the area... in case the enemy shows up."

Xian Pu didn't believe it for a second. "Yeah, right. Come on, just admit it. You're out here for the same reason we are. We all want Slade back." 

"YAAAYYYYY! Let's go find Mr. Alien!" Dita said happily. 

"Dita!" Meia scolded. 

"Well, I guess there's no point in denying it, Meia. They found us out." Jura said nonchalantly. 

"I thought as much." Xian Pu then addressed Meia and Jura. "I don't need to ask Dita as to why she's out here. So what's your reasons for wanting him back?" 

"Simple." Jura replied. "I can't look elegant in battle without Slade, now can I?" 

"What about Barnette?" 

"I love Barnette to pieces, but I can't agree with her on this one. When I get back, we're going to have a little chat. Slade is too... interesting to let go" Jura replied. She was also thinking about that kiss that he had given to her on Anpathos. 

"How about you Meia?" Another Vanguard pilot asked. "Why do you want him back?" 

The aqua-haired girl sighed. Why bother denying it? "Slade is our best chance of beating our enemies. He was our tactical advantage and... he was a friend." _Maybe even more._

Xian and her group considered the three Dread pilots, then all agreed to allow them to help search for their missing comrade. The Dreads and Vanguards sped off into the endless void. A few minutes later, one of the Vanguard operators let off a whoop of joy as she picked up a faint distress signal, which belonged to Pegas. The females immediately began converging on its coordinates. 

---------- 

Rabat whistled as he saw the wreckage of more than three dozen starships littering the sector of space he was in. He began scanning through the various debris, hoping that there was something worth salvaging. However, he didn't expect much, since the Harvesting Fleet usually left very little in their attacks. Then his ship began picking up a faint distress signal. His simian partner Utan made a few chirps and grunts as she pointed to a large mass that was floating nearby. 

The trader's eyes widened as the object came into view. It was battered and charred in several places, but he still recognized it. It was Pegas the Tekkabot. It was missing an arm and its armor was pitted and dented so severely, that it looked as if it had been subjected to a dozen meteor showers.

Rabat wondered just how the machine had ended up so far from its mothership the Nirvana, then he glanced down at the sensor readings. They were picking up faint life readings. Someone was still inside of it! Judging by the readings, he was barely alive. Utan's partner smiled as he had a hunch as to who was in the cockpit. If he were right, then it would be payback time! He had just recovered from all the injuries he had gained from his last visit on the pirate vessel, and during his convalescence, he had been thinking about getting revenge against one snot-nosed punk! 

Since the Tekkabot was too damaged for him to salvage, Rabat decided that it wasn't worth his time and aimed his ship's main guns at it. Though Utan was giving off some distraught noises, as if telling him not to do this, Rabat paid her no mind. This was what he had been waiting for! However, just as he was drawing a bead on his target, his sensors then picked up some new signatures heading toward him. 

---------- 

The Warrior Squadron and the three Dreads appeared on the scene after following the Pegas' distress signal. They immediately converged on Rabat's ship and the stricken Tekkabot. With their weapons trained on him, Meia hailed the trader. 

"Back off Rabat! If you even try opening fire on him, then we'll shoot you down!" 

Rabat however, put on a smile as he replied in his most sincere voice. "What are you talking about? I was just about to go look for you guys after I found Slade in trouble. I was just in the process of rescuing him when you showed up and..."

"Can it!" Xian Pu said as she motioned for two of her subordinates to attach towlines to Pegas. "You're coming with us! If you try anything funny, then we'll blow you into space dust!" 

Rabat saw that he had no choice and growled a bit at the lost opportunity. He then nodded as he directed his ship to head toward the waiting Nirvana. 

---------- 

Inside Pegas, all was silent as a broken figure lay in his seat. Slade had been severely injured from his latest encounter with the Harvesters, and was dropping in and out of consciousness. Currently, he was in a kind of healing trance that he had learned during his travels, to speed up his recovery. The cockpit was sparking, and the life-support was just barely keeping him alive, as he was being returned to the place in which he would once again call home... the Nirvana. 

To be continued... 

Author's Notes 

Whew! Long chapter, but I wanted to have more character interaction than what was done in the original Vandread. Slade certainly has affected a lot of people, hasn't he? 

Slade's encounter with the Harvesters will be described in the next chapter. We will also have another confrontation with him and Rabat and despite being injured, Slade is going to have it out with the trader or rather _TRAITOR_. The Tekkadread series will really be heating up with several surprises in the last two chapters as I wrap this up. See you there! 


	14. Chapter 12: 12 Storms of Rage

**TEKKADREAD**

Disclaimer: Mine is not to question why. 

: Thoughts 

**Chapter**

**12 Storms of Rage**

"Here. You left something behind out there." Rabat said. He gestured to the severely damaged Tekkabot, as it was being lowered to the hanger floor. His simian partner Utan had gone off in search of her favorite plaything Pyoro. 

The massive machine made a thunderous noise as it was laid down. All around the machine, the Dread pilots and the Warrior Squadron watched intently. The female techs, with Parfat in the lead, quickly began converging on it, assessing structural damage and taking energy readings. 

"Whoa! What happened to it?" Parfat gasped. She and the others couldn't believe that the Vanguard had taken so much punishment and was still operational. Aside from its missing arm, Pegas was still relatively intact. The girls then jumped back as the hatch to the cockpit hissed open, The servos creaked and groaned as the panel swung up to expose the occupant. It was then that a snarl was heard. 

"RABAT! YOU RAT BASTARD! YOU ARE SO DEAD!" 

The trader turned to see an injured Slade standing on Pegas' chest. He smirked as he took in the Tekkaman's appearance. He was barely able to keep himself upright and his left arm clutched at his right side. He had numerous cuts and bruises all over his body and it looked like he was in serious pain. Blood was seeping from a head wound. Seeing Slade in pain gave great pleasure to Rabat as he smirked at him. He then began taunting him. 

"Well now. Is that any way to thank the man who just saved your life? I would think that..." 

"AAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!" Slade roared and thrust out his right hand with the palm spread out. 

A ball of ki appeared and blasted forth, catching everyone, especially Rabat by surprise. The ki bolt slammed into his chest, breaking two ribs in the process and caused a very nasty burn. Rabat found himself flying backward and hit the bulkhead behind him, causing a human-size depression in its surface. He let off a strangled gurgle and his eyes were wide with shock at what had just happened. How did that punk do that? Didn't he need to transform to shoot energy? 

In the crowds, the females gasped in wonder, awe and fear. 

Jura gulped a bit after the display. "He can do that?!" 

"What was... that?" Meia asked. 

Dita let off a delighted noise and clapped her hands as she recognized what Slade had done. She remembered how he had used that power to free her trapped Dread during the time they had first met. "Wow! Mr. Alien used his secret alien power!" 

"You _KNEW_ he could _DO_ that?!" Jura exclaimed. 

"That's why it's called a 'secret' power." Dita replied as-a-matter-of-factly. 

Rabat gasped as he tried to take in air, but his bruised lungs were having a bit of trouble expanding within the confines of his ribcage. He felt a stab of pain shoot through the top part of his torso. Then, in a blink of an eye, Slade was suddenly in front of him. Apparently, anger and adrenaline were giving the Tekkaman enough strength to begin dishing out high amounts of hurt. 

Slade slammed a fist into his gut, causing him to double over. One knee to the chin made the con man snap back up. Another fist nearly dislocated the jaw, and made a couple of teeth get knocked out. A follow-up spin kick to the face and Rabat was hitting the wall again. 

Since he wasn't completely recovered from his last bout with the Harvesters, Slade's endurance was down and he couldn't continue smacking Rabat around. Instead, he opted for clamping down a hand on the traitor's throat. With some effort, he hoisted him up and Rabat found himself dangling a few feet off the floor of the hanger. He gripped both hands on Slade's arm, trying to make him let go, but the space warrior's grip was close to squeezing his windpipe to the diameter of a straw. 

"You filthy traitor." Slade growled dangerously. "You're nothing but a liar, and a total waste of genetic material." 

"I... urk... saved... ugh..." 

"Like _HELL_!" Slade shot back. "I was still conscious when you aimed your ship's guns at me. You weren't trying to save me. You wanted to finish me off. As far as I'm concerned..." He gestured with his head at Xian Pu's group. "... they saved me, not you. I saw you picking through the wreckage of those ships like the vulture that you are. Those ships had been full of good people whose lives _YOU_ sold out!" 

"I... don't know... argh... ack... what you're talking about!" 

"The _HELL_ you don't! You're the reason why the Harvesters have been raiding all the human worlds in this sector!" 

At this point, their conversation began to catch the pirates' interest. Meia then asked a question. 

"What do you mean, Slade?" 

Slade let off another growl before replying. "Oh, didn't you know? Rabat has been working for the Harvesters. He sold out the entire human race, by relaying information about each human world that he had encountered. That also includes information about this ship and everyone aboard, plus data about Mejele and Tarak." 

There was a collective gasp among the females as the Tekkaman addressed Rabat. "Don't bother trying to deny it. I brought back enough proof to expose you for the stinking traitor that you are." 

Rabat managed to sneer at Slade and chuckle, though it hurt him to do so. He spat at him. Droplets of saliva and blood hit Slade's cheek as he continued to sneer. "Heh. Well now that my little secret is out, what are you going to do about it? Knock me off? It doesn't matter now. Before I found you, I received a message from my customers, the Harvesters. They're on their way here." 

This announcement caused another collective gasp to be heard among the females. Slade was tempted. Oh he was _VERY_ tempted to rip that arrogant smile off his face and then reduce all of his bones to powder. However, now was not the time. 

Rabat was thrown to one side and slammed hard into a wall. The trader slipped down into unconsciousness as Slade turned and limped toward the hanger exit. However, several dozen women, aiming their rifles at him then blocked him. His anger was raised a few notches as Barnette stepped up in front and held up her gun at his face. 

"HOLD IT! YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" 

Slade growled. So that girl was still on her 'all men were the enemy' kick, eh? Well, he didn't have time for this. "Out of my way, Barnette. I got a few things to talk with your Captain. Now step aside, unless you want that gun shoved up where the sun doesn't shine!" 

However, just as he was about to let loose with another ki blast, several members of the Warrior Squadron took up positions behind him and aimed their own weapons at Barnette's group. 

"Xian Pu! What are you doing?" Barnette demanded. 

The Amazon glared at her. "I should ask you the same thing! You heard Rabat, didn't you? The enemy is coming! We have to get ready to fight _THEM_, not each other!" 

"It's just another lie by the men! You can't trust any man!" 

"Wrong." Xian insisted. "What we can't trust are these stupid ideals of yours! Slade is on _OUR_ side! Don't you see that?" 

Both sides were ready to open fire, but then a voice was heard over the PA system. 

"STOP THIS! ALL OF YOU!" 

The girls stiffened when they heard Magno's commanding voice. However, no one made a move to lower her weapons. Each was wary that the other might shoot if she let her guard down. 

"THIS IS A DIRECT ORDER TO ALL OF YOU! PUT YOUR WEAPONS DOWN!" Magno shouted. 

Slowly, but surely, each girl lowered her rifle, laser ring and so on. When everyone had holstered her weapon, there was a collective drop in overall tension. Then Magno spoke once more, this time addressing the Tekkaman. "Slade... report to the bridge." 

---------- 

The bridge... 

"D-Boy... you look like Hell." Magno commented as she looked over his bruised and battered form. She could tell that he was running on sheer willpower alone as he stood in front of her. 

Slade said nothing for a long moment, then snorted. "I've been put through Hell since this morning. Considering what happened today, I don't know why I'm even bothering to tell you this, but I guess you deserve to hear it." 

"What happened to you Slade?" Buzom asked. "Did you encounter the enemy?" 

"Yeah... and I got my ass handed to me." 

Both women became alarmed at hearing this. Slade was considered formidable, even without combining with the Dreads. For something to have done this to him meant... 

Slade sighed then continued on. "I never claimed that I was unbeatable..." 

---------- 

Flashback to a few hours ago... 

Slade's blood grew cold as he saw what appeared on the bridge's main monitor of the Melanos ship. It was big... _REAL_ big. 

"What the Hell is that?!" 

"One of the enemy flagships." The Melanos captain replied as the fleet began preparing for all-out war. 

"_ONE_ of the enemy flagships?" Slade couldn't get over the size of that thing and here the captain was telling him that there were more? 

The commander of the vessel nodded. "Our long-range surveillance teams have been tracking the movements of the Harvesters ever since they entered this part of the galaxy. They've spotted up to three flagships so far and it is possible that there's more." 

_And one isn't enough?_ Slade thought as he took in the monster's appearance. The thing measured at least nine miles in length and was shaped like some giant sea cucumber. On its sides were rows and rows of ships, which resembled the one that Tekkadread Dita had destroyed during that fateful first encounter. On its bow was a glowing, inverted Y-pattern. Flying escort for the behemoth were hundreds of thousands of Cube Fighters and Space Urchins. Slade had the abilities of a Tekkaman, but against that much raw firepower, he also knew of his limits. The Melanos Fleet would not be able to stand up against them and even if he was still with the Nirvana, Slade wasn't certain if the Tekkadreads would be able to win against this many enemies. For the first time in a very long while, Slade was thinking that discretion was the better part of valor. 

"Captain... I think it would be best if we withdrew." 

"We cannot." The captain said solemnly. 

"Why not? I'm no battle tactician but I can tell that you're taking on more than you can handle, even with this many ships." 

"It's not that we don't know that we're outmatched, it's just that there isn't anything or anyone left to defend our planet. We're the first, last... and only line of defense for Melanos." 

At that moment, the enemy began opening fire. 

Almost immediately, the Anti-Earth Defense Fleet returned fire with volley after volley of lasers, particle beams and missiles. The star-studded background became plastered with explosions and debris. Fighters swarmed out like maddened wasps as their human pilots threw everything they had at the enemy. However, despite the destructive forces being unleashed by the Melanos Fleet, the Harvesters kept on coming, totally ignorant of the losses they were sustaining. They were unfeeling machines, absolutely merciless, carrying out their programmed orders and letting nothing stand in their way. 

---------- 

Slade frowned as he watched the valiant Melanos fighters do whatever they could to push the enemy back, but it was a losing battle. The Cube Fighters were already breaking through their defensive lines and several cruisers were being invaded. One could only imagine the chaos and horror being wrought on those vessels as their crews were being 'harvested' for their skin. 

Finally, he couldn't take it any more. He had to do something. He bolted from the bridge and made his way to the hanger where Pegas awaited. As he entered the area, a huge explosion rocked the ship. Walls were blown out and the floor trembled as flames started appearing. The cruiser's internal fire-suppression systems kicked in, dousing the hanger with foam. As Slade made his way toward the Tekkabot, he caught sight of an inert form lying nearby. He ran toward the prone figure and knelt down to find a mortally wounded Seran. 

"Hold on, Seran! I'll get you out of here! You'll be all right!" 

However, the engineer knew that this was the end as she felt her life's blood trickle away. She had just completed the repairs on Pegas when the explosion had occurred. Flying debris had punctured her chest and her sight was fading. She smiled up at Slade briefly, then... died. 

Slade felt as if a part of himself had died with her, then his expression became one devoid of emotion. His whole body trembled with anguish and rage. After all he had been through. After everything that he had lost, then gained, now lost again... 

Finally, he snapped. 

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"

Blinded by tears in his eyes, Slade raced to the nearest airlock. As soon as the door closed, he made his crystal appear. 

"TEKSETTER!"

---------

The Melanos captain frowned as he looked at the tactical display. His fleet was being torn apart. The Cube Fighters by themselves were cutting down squadron after squadron of his planet's best pilots and more than half of the cruisers had been invaded. To make matters worse, the main enemy flagship was laying down an endless stream of laser and cannon fire, obliterating several cruisers in the process. To the left of his command vessel, a cruiser suddenly exploded just minutes after the enemy had boarded it. The commander of the fleet assumed that the crew of that ship had decided to auto-destruct and take their enemies with them. He shook his head in sadness at their valiant, yet ultimately futile act. At this rate, the Anti-Earth Defense Fleet would be annihilated, and Melanos would be left completely at the mercy of the Harvesters. 

In minutes, the fleet was being pushed back and whittled down to barely more than a dozen capital spacecraft. The fleet commander shook his head resignedly. It looked like they had done nothing more than delay the inevitable. They were doomed. 

Just then, one of his bridge officers shouted out that a huge energy surge had just been detected from within one of their airlocks. A flash of emerald light shot past the bridge and the crew all gazed in amazement and wonder. The main viewscreen zoomed in on the figure as he went through his astonishing metamorphosis. 

"It's him. The rumors were true!" The Melanos captain exclaimed. The exploits of a strange being that fought the Harvesters in powerful armor, had reached even the distant planet of Melanos. And now they were having their first glimpse of the Tekkaman Slade. 

---------- 

Out in space, Slade's body was stripped of its clothes as alien metal appeared and fused with his flesh. In a bright flare of luminescence, the transformation completed itself and the space warrior wasted no time in tearing into the enemy. 

_TRANSFORMING TO TEKKA-BATTLE MODE!_

Once again his form altered itself into a more dynamic shape and in a nimbus of power, he sped through the swarms of Cube Fighters, obliterating them by the dozens. The human pilots found the pressure being eased off of them as their enemies were being eliminated in seconds. 

A few seconds later, another foe of the Harvesters shot out into the void. Pegas raced towards its master as he continued to wreak havoc among the Harvester forces. The Vanguard began undergoing its own transformation as it made a beeline toward the Tekkaman. It began elongating its fuselage and compressing its form into a more dynamic configuration. Once Slade caught sight of it, he made a flip and landed on its back. The two were surrounded by a corona of power and became a comet of utter destruction. Several of the Seed Ships and Space Urchins were blown to pieces as it sped toward the main flagship. 

---------- 

The crews of the Melanos Fleet watched in awe, as one man was causing more damage to the Harvesters than they had done since the enemy had entered their sector. The lead ship's commander felt his resolve return as he communicated with the remaining cruisers to follow Slade's lead. The ships began concentrating their firepower on the main flagship and its fighter escorts. 

---------- 

The Tekkaman charged headlong into another formation of Cube Fighters, slashing them apart with his lance while Pegas was laying down an unending barrage of laser and cannon shots. With the Melanos Fleet backing him, space became even more littered with Harvester debris. In minutes, the flagship's escorts were cut down as the enraged Slade refused to let anything or anyone get in his way. He ignored the countless hits on his armor as the main force of the Harvester fleet concentrated on eliminating their greatest threat. Radam armor was unbelievably strong, but it wasn't indestructible. The direct hits began to add up, pushing the armor's structural integrity to its limits. Cracks and dents started to appear on his upper torso, but Slade pressed on. Under his feet, Pegas sustained very heavy damage but continued to carry its master as far as it could take him. 

When a stray shot struck the haft of his lance, the weapon broke in two and the pieces went flying off into the vacuum of space. However, Slade paid it no mind as he streaked toward the bow of the enemy flagship. Behind him, the remaining Melanos fleet and the fighters continued to lay down a withering salvo, giving Slade a clear path to his target. 

However, that was when the flagship began opening fire with everything it had. Particle beams and energy torpedoes came in massive waves, and Slade soon found himself being pushed back. Several of those attacks struck hard in his chest and he realized that he might have bitten off more than he could chew. A Tekkaman, though very powerful, had his limits and Slade was quickly reaching his breaking point. However, he stubbornly refused to back down. His Tekkabot's thrusters let loose at full throttle, trying to move him forward, but the relentless barrage continued. 

When Slade saw that the inverted Y-pattern on the bow of the ship begin glowing, he knew that his Melanos allies wouldn't survive the attack. His shoulder units lifted up as he raised the lead ship's communications. 

"GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" 

Just then, the Harvester flagship let loose with a beam of power, that would have caused a star to go nova. At the same time, Slade channeled every last bit of energy he had into his own counter-blast. 

"VOLTEKKER!" 

The quantum and ki blast hit the larger and stronger Harvester beam head-on. However, as powerful as Slade's attack was, it wasn't enough to stop the flagship's attack... at least not entirely. A large portion of the flagship's beam was deflected away from the surviving Melanos ships, but the remainder engulfed the Tekkaman and his robotic partner. Slade's armor buckled under the strain as he felt his entire body scream in agony. 

The Tekkabot's armor was also strained to its limit as it was sent tumbling through space. Debris from the battle pelted its surface and part of a Cube Fighter slammed into its right side, shearing off an arm. 

However, Slade's attack had not totally missed its target. A part of Slade's Voltekker beam lanced toward the enemy flagship. Despite its thick armor, the energy tore through and caused a chain reaction to occur inside. Small explosions began occurring inside the behemoth, crippling several systems. The entire craft shook as its insides were being ravaged. Though it was still relatively intact, it had suffered considerable damage. The main computer of the ship began assessing the situation. Though it seemed that its main enemy had been vanquished, in its current state and its escort fleet devastated, the flagship could not complete its mission to harvest the people of Melanos... for now. Repairs would be needed and that would take some time. The flagship decided that harvesting could wait for a while until more fighters could be manufactured and energy stores were replenished. After all, without Tekkaman Slade, the Melanos people had no other way to stand against it, right? 

---------- 

Aboard the main ship of the Melanos Anti-Earth Defense Fleet, the captain and his crew watched in total amazement. The enemy flagship... was withdrawing! For the first time since this terrible war had begun, the human side was the victor and it was all because of one extraordinary man. A man who had seemingly gave his life so that others may live to fight another day. 

"Have you found him? Is our savior still out there?" 

The officer that was manning the sensors shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry sir. I've contacted the other ships and we've done a full sensor sweep of the battle area. There's a lot of energy interference out there, but... there's no sign of him. Most likely, he was vaporized." 

The captain's expression turned from hope to resignation. He had wanted to take Slade back to Melanos and ask him to fight alongside their forces, but it seemed that the Tekkaman had decided on martyrdom. So be it. At least he had bought the people of Melanos some time to prepare for the Harvester's next attack. His example of courage and self-sacrifice would be the inspiration for his people to continue fighting. 

After recalling their fighters and taking in whatever could be salvaged, the Melanos Fleet, numbering fifteen cruisers in all, turned for home. 

---------- 

Floating among the derelict hulks of Cube Fighters, Space Urchins, Seed Ships and Melanos cruisers, was the broken and almost non-functional form of the Tekkabot. Inside its cockpit was its bruised, bloody, battered... and beaten pilot. In the instant before he had been totally engulfed by the enemy flagship's attack, Pegas had managed to reach Slade and get him inside of it. With the added protection, he had survived the conflagration but just barely. The strain and damage he had sustained had caused him to revert back to his human form. Pegas had also been emitting a kind of cloaking field to hide Slade's bio-signals so that the Harvesters would not detect him, thereby making them believe that he had been totally obliterated in the blast. 

With the flagship now gone, Pegas then dropped the cloaking field and activated its distress signal. It had hoped that the Melanos people would pick it up and come to rescue its master, but with so much energy interference, the signal was not received by them. With nearly all of its systems down, including communications and propulsion, it could only watch helplessly as the Anti-Earth Defense Fleet warped back to its home. It would take several hours before the energy emissions were low enough for the signal to get through. Until then, Pegas would do whatever was necessary to keep Slade alive. 

---------- 

End of flashback... 

"I don't know how long I floated out there, but if weren't for Pegas and the Warrior Squadron..." Slade let his voice trail off, then let off a tired sigh. "In any case, Captain, I think that you should know that this ship is next, along with your home planet and the men's, according to what Rabat said."

"I... see." Magno was very concerned. Slade had been defeated... he had actually been defeated! If the enemy had that kind of firepower plus more of those flagships, then it was more imperative than ever to get back to Mejele and warn both it and the male planet of Tarak. Only a united effort would be able to stand up against the invaders. Magno also knew in her heart that Slade was the key to the enemy's defeat. After all, he had managed to stop, albeit temporarily, an enemy flagship. With the power of the Tekkadreads and the Nirvana's crew working together, they would be able to overcome any obstacle. 

However, there was still the problem of the mutiny, as well as the fact that the Nirvana was currently without its navigator and chief physician. Still, she had to ask. 

"So D-Boy... do you think we can win?" 

Slade frowned at her. "What do you mean _WE_? In case you've forgotten, I'm considered the enemy, remember?" 

At that point, several crewmembers appeared on the bridge and aimed their blaster rifles at him. Magno winced, as she was about to order them to lower their weapons and stop this nonsense. This was definitely not the time! 

However, Slade shook his head to her as he raised his hands in a non-threatening manner. "It's not your fault, Captain. I'm not holding you responsible for any of this." He resignedly held out his hands to them, which they immediately cuffed as he was led away. 

As they watched him being taken away, Buzom and the Captain became even more worried. 

"I've... never seen Slade act this way. He didn't even try to resist. It's as if the battle with that flagship had broken him." The First Officer remarked. 

"I think it's more than that, BC." Magno said. "I think... Slade has lost his faith." 

"His faith?" 

"Yes. I think that the events of this day had caused Slade to lose faith... in himself, in us... and in the human race." 

---------- 

Back on the Harvester's World... 

"What? One of our flagships encountered the Tekkaman Slade?" One of the leaders said as he read the report. 

"What happened?" Another leader asked. 

The tech nodded. "Apparently, during the operation to gather the Melanos people for their skin, the force we sent to eliminate their defenses encountered the Tekkaman. It suffered considerable losses and had to withdraw." 

"And the Tekkaman?" 

"Missing and believed to have been destroyed. It seems that he was no match for the flagship's overall firepower. Apparently, we no longer have need of those countermeasures we developed to combat him and the Tekkadreads." 

"_DO NOT_ assume anything." The head of the Harvester leaders warned. "If that Tekkaman was able to temporarily halt a flagship on his own, then we cannot afford any mistakes at this point. His demise has not been verified, so therefore, we must assume that he is still alive." He then asked the tech another question. "Are the countermeasures and that special project ready?" 

"Yes sir." 

"Then have them sent to destroy the Nirvana. If the Tekkaman Slade is still alive, then we shall defeat him and the Nirvana in one stroke." 

---------- 

Somewhere near the sector where the Nirvana was in, another flagship just received orders to move out. Deep within it, in specialized hangers, the countermeasures to the Tekkadreads were being made ready for battle. One countermeasure in particular was anticipating the moment in which it would face off against Slade. Its name was Saber. 

---------- 

The Nirvana... 

"But Commander, we need you!" Xian Pu pleaded as she stood in front of the cell in which Slade had been put in. The two guards who were assigned to watching him looked on with disdain. 

However, the Tekkaman didn't seem to be listening as he sat in a cross-legged position and focused on speeding up his healing. Behind him, Duero and Bart listened to their conversation. Laying on the cot and still unconscious was Rabat. 

"Commander!" The Amazon cried out. 

Finally, after a long moment of silence, Slade responded, but did not face her. "Don't call me that. I relinquished that position to you, remember Xian Pu? It's what you wanted when the Vanguard squadron was formed, right?" 

"Why are you talking nonsense? _YOU_ are the leader of the Vanguards! You're the one that we follow! Do you realize what we risked to find you? A lot of our friends resent us now, because we believed in you, and we still do!" 

"Then you wasted your time." Slade said quietly. 

"What?" 

Slade took a deep breath. "I believed in this ship. I believed in everyone. Now... I don't believe in any of that anymore. In fact... I'm not too sure that I believe in myself." 

"Commander!" 

"The Warrior Squadron is yours, Xian Pu." Slade said with finality in his tone. "Though I am grateful to you for saving me, things have changed. I can't go back into battle with you now. Think of what might happen if I did. Half of the crew will not accept my help, Duero or Bart's. In fact, a lot of them hate me. Our getting involved would only make things worse and endanger everyone. Every time I get involved... people get hurt, or even worse." In his mind was Seran's expression before she had died. "You're the leader of the Vanguards now, so _LEAD_ them. I... know that you'll do a good job." 

Xian Pu couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was if she was talking to an entirely different person. What had happened to him? Seeing that she wouldn't be able to pierce the shell that Slade had erected over him, at least for now, the Amazon nodded her head and gave him a salute before leaving. She quickly hid her face from him so that he wouldn't see the tears that was starting to appear. 

Slade was left alone with his thoughts as his body continued to heal. 

---------- 

In the cafeteria, Barnette was having another rally against accepting help from the men and asserting the women's independence. 

"We can win without the men! We don't need the help of the men! We didn't need them before they came aboard this ship and we don't need them now!" 

As her followers cheered her on, in the rear of the crowds, Gascogne shook her head. 

_Fools. This is **NOT** going to work! They're blinded by pride and not thinking with their heads. They've closed their hearts to everything._ The head supplier gazed at Barnette as she went on and on about the evils of men and how they had tainted their once pure, female society. She sadly shook her head. The Dread pilot reminded her of those propaganda films from Tarak and Mejele. 

Seeing that trying to talk some sense into them would be useless, she decided to hold her peace. 

---------- 

Out in space... 

Meia was worried and her concerns were well founded. Though Slade had returned, the rift in the Nirvana's crew was still there. The ones that refused any help from the men were at odds with those who believed in the males. The ship was still a sitting duck without Bart at the controls and any injured crewmember would be left at the not-so-tender mercies of Paiway's medical skills. 

With the information that the captain had given to her, Meia had decided that it would be prudent to be on the lookout for enemy activity. That was why she and a few of her subordinates were patrolling the surrounding areas in their Dreads. She prayed that they would not be attacked before the problems on the ship could be resolved. However, that was when Fate decided to deal them a very bad hand. Meia's long-range sensors went off as they picked up the approach of something huge. 

_Oh no!_ Meia knew that this was it as she signaled for her wing-mates to follow her back to the Nirvana. Mutiny or not, the pirates would need to get ready for what might well be the most intense fight of their lives. 

---------- 

The bridge... 

Parfat coughed as another circuit relay blew up in her face. She had been trying without success to access the control mechanisms, which Bart used to guide the ship. However, the navigation well was spitting out any probing device that was inserted into it, and overloaded any attempt to bypass its interface controls. Apparently, it would accept no other navigator but Bart. 

The head engineer would have preferred spending her time with the modifications she had planned for Pegas, instead of this futile exercise. The navigation well was attuned to Bart's biorhythms and several volunteers had already been forcibly ejected when they tried to enter it. However, with Pegas currently out of commission, the enemy forces nearby, and the other females unwilling to let Bart out of his cell, the brown-haired girl had no choice but try to find a way to move the ship. 

At that point, Dita came up to her and asked her to fix up 'Mr. Alien's' partner. 

"Please? Pretty please?" 

Parfat sighed as she reached for a circuit clamp. "I'd like to help, Dita. Really I would, but I can't! Everyone wants me to get this ship moving without Bart, and if they see me repairing Slade's Vanguard, then they'll start calling _ME_ a traitor." 

"But Mr. Alien _NEEDS_ his partner!"

"I know that, but I can't do anything about it! In any case, Pegas is way too damaged right now and it would take at least two days of nonstop work, just to get its basic systems back online!" This news caused Dita to become disheartened. However, Parfat pointed to her toolbox without facing her and said, "Can you do me a favor? Can you bring my toolbox back to the hanger? I won't be _NEEDING_ it for until tomorrow." 

The young Dread pilot smiled at the underlying meaning of the engineer's words and swept up the toolbox. "Thank you so much Parfat!" 

---------- 

Later... 

"Oh dear! This is a _LOT_ different than a Dread!" Dita whined as she tried to work at one of Pegas' terminals. Unlike her fighter, the Vanguard was suited more for hand-to-hand combat with its configuration, and its Paksis-enhanced circuitry was far more intricate than conventional wiring. The young pilot realized that she had taken on a task that was far beyond her capabilities. She knew how to diagnose problems and make basic repairs on a Dread, but fixing Pegas was way out of her league. 

"I can't believe that you'd go through all this trouble for a man." 

Dita stopped in her attempts to repair Pegas when she heard the voice. She came out from underneath the Tekkabot's front cowling and smiled up at her friend. "Paiway, what are you doing here?" 

The little nurse became a bit nervous as she bowed her head, twiddled her fingers, and said in a very quiet voice, "I... came here to say... that I'm sorry." 

"Sorry? For what?"

"You know... for causing all of this. It was my fault. I didn't know that you were crying because of those onions and... I was... jealous about how much time you spent with Slade and..." The little girl's eyes began welling up as she tried to hold back her tears. 

Dita found herself feeling a bit of anger, then went right back to smiling at her friend. "I know that you didn't mean for all this to happen Paiway. You don't have to say sorry to me." 

"I... don't?"

"Of course not! We're friends, silly! We'll always be friends!" Dita replied as her cheerfulness came back at full blast. "But I think that you need to say sorry to Mr. Alien." 

Paiway winced. Eating crow was not what she wanted to do, but Dita was right. Every now and then, Dita's air-headedness disappeared and she would show signs of great wisdom. Still, she had to ask her friend a few things. 

"Why is it that you chase after him so much?" 

Dita smiled as she went back to work on Pegas. "Because he's Mr. Alien!"

"Huh?" 

"I know it sounds strange, but even though he's a man, I want to do whatever I can to help him. It's how I feel about him. When you care about someone like that, then you should do everything you can to make that person happy, because it makes you happy to see that person happy, right?" 

Paiway smiled a bit while shaking her head. She then held up her frog puppet. "I guess there's no use in fighting it. Kero, kero!" 

It was at that moment that the general alarm went off. The enemy... had arrived. 

---------- 

"LEAVE ME ALONE! GO AWAY!" Pyoro cried out as he tried desperately to get away from his unwanted admirer. 

However, Utan was still hot on the machine's heels as she continued to pursue him through the halls of the ship, heading toward the bridge. 

---------- 

The brig...

There wasn't much that Duero could do for Rabat. Aside from assessing that he was in no danger of dying, though he was going to be feeling substantial pain when he came to, the doctor turned his attention to Slade's injuries. Without the medical supplies of the sick bay, the physician couldn't do much for the Tekkaman. However, he became very fascinated at the self-healing process that Slade was using recuperate. Cuts healed at a rate far faster than normal and bruises were gradually fading away. It was then that the three men heard the general quarters alarm. Their guards hurried off to respond to the imminent enemy attack, leaving their captives to fend for themselves. 

"What's going on?" Bart wondered though he and his two compatriots had a good idea what was happening. 

Slade stopped in his self-healing and went toward the brig's porthole. He saw small streaks of light, which he knew, were the vapor trails of the Dreads and Vanguards as they were launching to meet the enemy. However, if his last encounter was any indication, then this could well be the crew's final battle. 

Duero got up and joined him to watch the coming battle. 

"So... do you think they stand a chance... with just Dreads and Vanguards?" 

Slade shook his head. He wasn't going to lie. "No. They don't stand a chance. But... it's their decision." 

"So you're not going out to help?" 

"They don't want my help." The Tekkaman replied sadly. "I don't know if I could help. I'm still not fully recovered from my last battle. Even if I were, I don't know if the Tekkadreads could stop _THAT_." He gestured to the huge flagship that was just appearing in the distance. Swarming around it were several small clouds, which were hundreds of squadrons of Cube Fighters, Seed Ships and Space Urchins. The enemy fleet stopped some distance from where the Nirvana was. 

"Is that the same flagship that you fought from before?" Duero asked.

Slade squinted a bit, then shook his head. "No... it's not. I managed to blast a pretty big hole, in the bow of the one I fought with the people of Melanos. I doubt it could have repaired something like that so fast. I think its another one. The commander of the Melanos Fleet did mention that there were more of them." 

---------- 

Meia was on edge and she knew it. As the Dreads launched and lined up behind her, she noticed that the Warrior Squadron was also deploying. She felt a bit disheartened when she saw that the Tekkabot was not among them. She observed Xian Pu's mecha in the lead and realized that for this battle, the pirates could not rely on Slade's power to give them an edge. And they needed that edge, especially when they were about to engage a flagship and so many fighters. 

Inside her Vanguard, Xian Pu readied herself and her command for battle. The Tarak machines were now equipped with new electron-pulse rifles to give them added range and firepower. They had also been given extra armor plating to withstand several direct hits. However, the enhancements did not boost the morale of the once proud Warrior Squadron. Their leader was not going to fight with them. Several of the pilots had protested when Xian Pu had given them the bad news, but it was too late now to do anything about it. They were committed. 

---------- 

In the Register, Gascogne nodded as her staff went about its business and filled out orders for the Dread and Vanguard pilots. However, the atmosphere wasn't the same. With Slade and the other men in the brig, there was a lot of tension among the stagehands. 

She became a bit angered when she saw Barnette enter and thrust out her request for her Dread. She quickly hid her expression as she looked down at the keycard. 

"I need this order filled out now!" The Dread pilot said with some irritation. Jura had been ignoring her since Slade had returned and Barnette's temper had begun to boil. 

The head supplier gave the younger girl a bit of a glare before smirking at her. "Remember Barnette." 

"Remember what?" Barnette asked with irritation.

"Smile... smile!" 

The Dread pilot gritted her teeth in a snarl, then forced herself to smile, before Gascogne took her keycard and authorized the order.

---------- 

Once the Dreads had all gotten into formation, Meia began making her final checks and raised all the pilots on communications. 

"We'll attack in Delta formation. Jura, you will lead group two and cover the Nirvana." 

The blonde pilot nodded, then asked the Dread leader. "Do you think we can do it, with just Dreads and Vanguards?" 

Meia didn't have an answer as she simply said, "Keep on your guard and good luck."

"Just so you know, Meia. I don't like losing battles." 

"Neither do I." 

---------- 

On the Nirvana's bridge... 

_**BOOM! **_

"This is impossible!" Parfat said as her face was now smudged and her hair was frazzled. After her thirtieth attempt to access the navigation well's controls, she about ready to say to heck with it all. 

"Should I get Bart up here?" Magno asked. As soon as the question was voiced, it was immediately shot down by several of the bridge crew. 

"_NO_! We have to win this fight without the men!"

"We don't need them!" 

"Men are nothing but slime!" 

Ezra kept silent, as she knew that her support of the men would only make things worse. 

The pirate captain shook her head sadly. Why couldn't they see that Slade and the others were essential to their survival? Perhaps, it was time for her to put her foot down and... 

At that moment, Pyoro came barging into the bridge, followed by Utan. He flitted about, screaming out cries for help as the simian continued to pursue him. 

Parfat then got inspired at the Navi robot's appearance. She quickly grabbed hold of him as he passed by and brought him to the navigation well. 

"Perfect timing! I could use you!" 

"Huh?" The little machine became puzzled as he was being hooked up. 

"Pyoro should be able to interface with the navigational systems!" The female engineer then punched in a few codes and became ecstatic when Pyoro began accessing the navigational well's main systems. However, when saw him jerking about erratically, she began to fear that the data was just too much for his memory banks to store. Suddenly, Pyoro became stiff, then his eyes glowed a bright yellow as he levitated high above the bridge. Then he spoke, but not in his voice. 

"RESISTANCE... IS FUTILE." (1) 

"What's going on Parfat?" Magno asked as she and the rest of the pirate crew listened. All the communication channels were picking up that same voice. The men in the brig also listened. 

"I think... it's the enemy." Parfat replied as she looked at her instruments' readouts. "They... must be using Pyoro to communicate with us." She then gazed at the image of the flagship on the main monitor. 

The ancient woman nodded as she replied back to the voice. "Who are you?" 

The voice answered. "WE ARE FROM THE PLANET KNOWN AS EARTH." 

"Earth? The same world where our ancestors came from? That can't be! If you're from Earth, then why have you been hunting us?" 

"WE ARE THE FUTURE OF THE HUMAN RACE. YOUR ORGANS WILL KEEP US ALIVE FOR MANY MORE YEARS TO COME AND WE THANK YOU FOR THEM. WHETHER YOU AGREE WITH THIS OR NOT IS IRRELEVANT. YOU SHALL BE HARVESTED TO ENSURE OUR EXISTENCE." 

With those words, Pyoro let off a small puff of smoke and clattered onto the floor of the bridge. 

---------- 

Among the pirates and their male captives, absolute shock reigned supreme. 

---------- 

The Dread Forces... 

"The same... We all came from the same planet... even... Mr. Alien..." 

---------- 

The Register... 

"Our enemies are from Earth?" Gascogne gasped. 

---------- 

The brig... 

"It... can't be." Bart said in disbelief. "We're being hunted... by the Earth?" 

"It's all true." 

The men turned and saw that Rabat had finally regained consciousness and was sitting up. It was apparent to them that he was in considerable pain. However, he still maintained that irritating smug look as he began explaining. 

"The so-called aliens that you've been fighting all this time are actually from the same planet that we all came from... Earth. About a century ago, humans set out from Earth to colonize other worlds and to escape from an enemy that was attacking the planet at the time." 

"What enemy was that?" Duero inquired. 

Rabat shrugged as he got up. "Not too sure about that. All I know is that the Earthlings managed to win against them, but are now after the organs of those who had colonized other planets. We're all just spare parts to them." 

"And what is your part in all this?" Bart demanded. 

"Didn't Slade tell you? I happen to an informant for Earth. In addition to the things that I sell, I also gather information about each planet I visit and relay the data back to Earth. That's how I make a living. You can think of each world like a farm and I'm considered as the farmer. Everyone is killed and their organs are used to sustain the survivors on Earth. As far they're concerned, you have no choice in the matter." 

"WHAT?! YOU SOLD US OUT?!" Bart exclaimed. 

Rabat shrugged again. "So what if I did? What are you going to do? Knock me off?" 

The traitor would _REALLY_ regret saying that again as Slade let off an enraged snarl and thrust his right hand out. 

_**WHABOOM! **_

The ki bolt smashed into Rabat's chest, nearly killing him, while breaking five more ribs. He went tumbling down in a mangled heap. That was when Slade came up to him, hauled him up with one hand on Rabat's throat and glared at him. 

"Listen up, you stinking traitor. From now on, I don't even consider you as a human being. You're nothing but an inhuman parasite. I should finish you off right now and save us all any further grief, but that won't solve the problems that you caused for the entire human race! However, I promise you that the next time we meet, I WILL SEND YOU TO HELL!" 

With that, he tossed Rabat away like a rag doll, knocking him out again, then fired off another ki blast at the brig's laser bars. The entire front of the cell short-circuited, which allowed the men to escape. However, the question was... where could they go? 

Duero called out to the former heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. "Slade... where are you going?" 

Slade stopped before reaching the brig's exit. "Isn't it obvious?" 

"I thought you said that they won't accept your help." 

"Maybe so." The Tekkaman agreed as he made his crystal appear. "But something about what that scum said made me think." 

"About what?" 

He paused for a moment, then responded. "He said that we don't have a choice in the matter. Meaning that our opinions, our thoughts, our hopes and our dreams aren't important, that they don't matter! Well I say they are important! We all have a right to lead our own lives! We have a right to our own existence! The Earth may deny us that right, but I'm not going to accept that! I may not know who I really am. I may not know where I came from. But I _DO_ know that I exist! And I won't let anyone take that away from me! I'm going to show proof of my existence!" 

With those words, he started running to the nearest airlock. 

Duero considered his words, then nodded. "Sounds good to me." It was time to show proof of his own existence by doing what he did best. He immediately headed toward the sick bay. Bart soon followed afterwards and began making his way toward the bridge. 

As for Rabat, he came around a minute later and painfully began making his way toward where his ship was docked. He also recalled his orangutan partner and once she was aboard, he disconnected from the Nirvana. Like a dog with his tail between his legs, he fled the scene, not wanting to get involved in the pirate's struggle for their lives. 

---------- 

Slade ran at full tilt as he headed toward an airlock that was near the Paksis Reactor Room. However, just as he passed by it, the door suddenly slid open and a bright, blue-white light engulfed him. 

---------- 

Out in space, the battle had begun... 

The Dreads and Vanguards scattered themselves among the multitudes of enemy fighters as they fought for their very survival. The Nirvana had managed to raise its shields, but without navigation, it began to drift toward a gaseous giant. As it listed toward the planet, shots from the enemy fighters and the Earth flagship continuously bombarded it. 

In her Dread, Meia was pushing herself to limit, as Cube Fighters beset her on all sides. The squadrons under her command were being whittled down as an unending wave of enemy craft kept on coming at them. The squadrons under Jura's command were trying their best to defend the Nirvana, but they couldn't be everywhere at once. Seed Ships and Space Urchins began mercilessly firing volley after volley of beams and projectiles at the pirate vessel. With the ship unable to move on its own, the pirates found themselves caught in the gravity field of the gas giant. The craft began listing dangerously toward it. 

Xian Pu and her Vanguards fought valiantly to stay in formation and give support to the Dreads and the Nirvana. However, even with their new weaponry and added armor, the humanoid mecha were seriously outnumbered. Several of the pilots had been forced to abandon their machines when they became too damaged. Those that did eject had to hope and wait for Gascone to come by and pick them up in her delivery shuttle, before the Harvesters found them. So far, the head supplier had managed to retrieve every one of them. 

The pirates became even more desperate when the enemy flagship began advancing on the Nirvana. More Seed Ships and Space Urchins were released from its sides to bolster the multitudes of Cube Fighters that were engaging the defenders. It seemed that the Nirvana's crew had finally run out of luck. 

---------- 

The Paksis Reactor... 

"What's going on?! What's happening?!" Slade shouted as he looked about. However all he could see was an endless sea of green-white light. His body felt as if it was on fire as various images passed by at high speed. Some of the images he recognized as places and people that he knew of, while others didn't make sense at all. One scene showed himself as a young boy, walking about on all fours and acting like a cat. Another scene showed him fighting against some portly, bald man with glasses on top of some poles. More scenes, both familiar and unfamiliar flashed by until finally, he saw a silhouette of a figure in what appeared to be Tekkaman armor. At first, he thought it was of himself, but the image was a bit larger and bulkier. 

Finally, Slade growled as he shouted out. 

"I don't what you're trying to do, but don't try to stop me!" Then, as suddenly as it began, it all ceased and Slade found himself outside of the reactor room. Shaking his head to clear it, he continued on his way to the airlock. 

---------- 

In the engineering room, Parfat cried out as one of her engineering staff was pinned under a large piece of bulkhead, that had fallen on top of her, when the ship shuddered from another direct hit. Immediately, Parfat and few other co-workers tried to lift the heavy object off of the girl's legs, but were unable to move the massive hunk of metal. They needed more muscle. 

Then suddenly, the bulkhead seemed lighter as one end began to rise. The head engineer was surprised to see Duero at her side and straining to lift the heavy weight. When the debris was high enough off the floor, another of Parfat's staff ran to the injured girl and pulled her clear. 

"Deuro, what are you...?" Parfat began, but the physician interrupted her as he dropped his load and began physically examining his unconscious patient. 

"Hmmm, hairline fracture along the tibia and probably some torn ligaments. She got some bad cuts along her right calf and a probable concussion." He turned to her and said. "Get me some straight pieces of wood or metal and any kind of fabric. I'm going to have to stop the bleeding and improvise a splint!" 

"But..." 

"No backtalk to your doctor! Move! The quicker we get her into sick bay, the better!" 

Parfat couldn't help but smile as she motioned for some others to assist him. 

---------- 

The bridge... 

"Have no fear! Your navigator is here!" Bart said as he made a grand entrance into the bridge. 

Magno gave irritated, but smiling expression at the blonde man. "Hmpf! You're late!" 

"Sorry." Bart replied sheepishly as he ran over to the navigational well and jumped in. 

All at once, the main drive controls became active as the Nirvana began slowing down its fall toward the gas giant. 

---------- 

The airlock... 

"TEKSETTER!" 

---------- 

"MR. ALIEN, WHERE ARE YOU?!" 

Dita was having a hard time of fighting off her attackers, as they seemed to be endless. For every Cube Fighter that was destroyed, three more would take its place. There appeared to be no hope as the Dreads and the Vanguards were being overwhelmed. Then Dita caught a flash of emerald green shooting out from the Nirvana's underbelly. She knew immediately who it was and felt new strength of will. Other members of the Dread and Vanguard teams also knew as well. 

"He's back!" 

"Commander!" 

"It's about time!" 

"All right!" 

"Go get 'em!" 

"YAHOO!" 

"MR. ALIEN!" 

Slade immediately shifted to his Tekka-Battle Mode and flew straight through several Cube Fighter formations. Since they were so many of them, every pass he made obliterated the enemy by the dozens. When he had taken out more than a hundred fighters, he went back to his normal configuration and brought out his lance. His movements were somewhat sluggish, as he had not yet totally recovered from his injuries. Fortunately, he had a loyal team of Vanguards to back him up. 

Xian Pu took out three fighters that tried to blindside her leader. Then she and several other members of the Warrior Squadron took up formation behind the Tekkaman. Gascogne's supply ship flew above them, allowing those who had been taken out of the battle to see their commander back in action. 

In the cockpit of the vessel, Gascogne smiled as she raised Slade on her communicator. 

"Welcome back D-Boy." 

The Tekkaman gave her a sharp salute then signaled his group into a flanking action. The Warrior Squadron pilots acknowledged his command and peeled off, shooting down more Cube Fighters and giving the Dreads some fighting room. As for Slade, he headed toward the Nirvana to aid Jura in the defense of the ship. Meia and Dita followed him in so that they could be close enough to combine when necessary. 

The blonde Dread pilot was ecstatic when she picked up Slade on her sensors. She began racing toward him and was all set to combine. Though she didn't care for the crab, its force-field would be very welcomed at this point. 

However, just as Slade came in close enough to initiate the fusion process, Jura's Dread was struck from behind by a large energy burst from the Earth flagship and was sent spinning away from Tekkaman. 

What the...?! Jura frantically went about trying to regain control of her fighter, but was prevented from getting closer to Slade as more Cube Fighters converged on her and the other two Dreads. Slade was also attacked en masse as the enemy flagship continued to advance on the Nirvana's position. Then the front bow opened up to let loose the Harvesters' latest weapons. 

Look at that! Dita cried out as strange craft emerged from the ship. It was then that the pirates got their first look at the Earth's countermeasures to the Tekkadreads. 

It... can't be! Meia shook her head in disbelief. 

---------- 

Impossible! They've actually managed to copy the Tekkadreads?! Buzom exclaimed. 

Magno knew that things were about to get serious. 

---------- 

Slade stared in total shock as the new machines came into view. The copy to Tekkadread Dita looked more menacing than the original, and mounted a single, huge blaster cannon over one shoulder. It was also equipped with energy blades on the forearms. The clone to Meia's Tekkadread was almost all black and looked more avian than dragon. It flapped its wings like a living thing as it took a position to Copy Tekkadread Dita's left. On its right, a grotesque version to Tekkadread Jura appeared. It looked like a cross between Jura's Dread and its crab form, but it had a had a huge pincer in the front that made it resemble a giant beetle. 

How ugly! 

They're copies? 

Ewww! I don't like this! 

In an instant, the Copy Tekkadreads attacked and took on their non-transformed counterparts. Meia found that despite her Dread's exceptional speed, Copy Tekkadread Meia was running rings around her, and taking pot shots at her with every pass. Jura couldn't get though her doppelganger's force-fields, even at point-blank range. As for Dita, her Dreads weaponry was no match for her double's overall firepower. The other Dreads and Vanguards were too busy with other enemy fighters and flagship to assist them, which left only Slade who could help. 

However, as he raced toward Dita to combine and help fight off those fakes, a red beam of energy fired from the flagship. The shot grazed the Tekkaman in the shoulder, but to Slade, it felt as if that part of his body was on fire. Despite the protection offered by his armor, he screamed in agony. He had never felt pain like this before. When he looked down at his shoulder, he saw that the metal had become charred and chipped. What could have caused that kind of damage with just a glancing shot? Looking in the direction in which the shot was fired, he got his answer. His heart stopped momentarily as he saw... him. 

The figure was roughly his height and was wearing armor that was similar to his own, but was colored a dark brown and crimson. It had more sharper edges and appeared far more insidious. He stood on what looked like a technological manta ray. In his right hand was a double-bladed lance and on his torso were several gemlike protrusions. His very presence radiated an evil aura that made a shiver run down Slade's back. This was not just a copy. He could sense that this... was a _REAL_ Tekkaman. 

---------- 

Dita gasped as she got a glimpse of the newcomer while dodging her double. All the females and their male crewmembers were in a state of total disbelief. 

THE BAD ALIENS... HAVE COPIED MR. ALIEN! 

---------- 

Magno shook her head with her mouth open. Today was certainly a day that she would not soon forget, though she wished she would. 

They... can even make copies of Slade? Buzom gasped. 

The ancient woman shook her head again. No BC. _THAT_ abomination... is no copy. 

The first officer became very alarmed at this. Then _WHAT_ is it? 

It's Slade's worst nightmare. 

---------- 

Who are you?! Slade demanded as he faced off against what would prove to be his greatest challenge. 

The enemy Tekkaman was silent for a long while, then finally, it spoke in a cold, cruel tone. I am... Saber! _NOW DIE_! 

With that, Tekkaman Saber charged toward Slade with his weapon thrust out in front of him. Slade barely had time to bring up his own lance to counter. The two exchanged dozens of slashes and thrusts in heartbeats, then began darting about the area of space like a pair of fireflies that were hopped up on drugs. The Nirvana's Tekkaman managed to block every attack that was thrown at him, save for one. Since he was still feeling the injuries he had received from his last battle with the Harvesters, his reaction time and strength were down. A wicked thrust to his heart was barely evaded, but Slade was not fast enough to avoid injury. Saber's weapon raked Slade's chest armor and tore a gash across its surface. The former Saotome bit down on the pain, backed off and got some distance between himself and his opponent. 

Saber merely hovered in place and held out his lance. First blood... is mine! 

Slade winced as he saw a streak of crimson on the tip of Saber's weapon. He shakily got into a ready stance and said, Don't matter... who draws first blood. Only who... draws... the last. 

The two stared each other down for one long and agonizing moment. Then they charged at each other again. 

To be concluded... 

Author's Notes 

Yeah, yeah, I know. You all hate me for leaving you hanging like this, but this chapter had been getting _TOO_ long and this was the perfect place to leave off and prepare for the final chapter of Tekkadread. In the final chapter, Slade and Saber will go all out to see who is top Tekkaman and the crew of the Nirvana will have to set aside their differences and work together to get out of this mess! See you there! 

(1) I couldn't resist that little quip after watching Star Trek Voyager last night. 


	15. Chapter 13, Part 1: Shattered

**TEKKADREAD**

Disclaimer: Let's do this right for the last chapter, okay? Vandread, Tekkaman Blade and Ranma 1/2 all belong to their respective creators and this piece of fiction uses their characters solely for the purpose of entertainment. No money is being made. 

: Thoughts 

**Chapter 13**

**Part 1**

**Shattered**

The planet Mejele... 

"Lady Grand Ma, we have received a message from the missing pirates." 

An aide held out a tray with an information disk in its center. However, a thin, withered hand with long fingernails waved off the disk, thereby dismissing its contents as unimportant. 

---------- 

The planet Tarak... 

"Lord Grand Pa, we have just received a message from the female pirates." 

The scenes contained within the data disk were scanned once through a private monitor. Then a withered finger pressed a button marked Delete. 

It seemed that the supreme leaders of the two planets did not consider any information from a band of outlaws to be significant. 

---------- 

On the other side of the galaxy... 

"AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!" 

This was the first time Slade had ever fought so hard. Then again, this was the first time he had fought this hard against a single opponent. Ever since he had awakened from the Tekkapod, he had believed to be the only Tekkaman in existence. He had never gone up against a foe that could match his powers or abilities... until now. 

Slade knew he was in trouble. The injuries he had sustained from his battle with an Earth flagship were slowing him down substantially. His reaction time and strength were lower than usual. He was taking hits that he would usually avoid or block. It didn't help matters that he was already tired from engaging the Cube Fighters and the other enemy units before Tekkaman Saber appeared. Now he was fighting for his life against a fresh and absolutely relentless adversary, who wanted nothing more than to end the former Saotome's existence! 

The two darted about like maddened wasps, each trying to outmaneuver the other in a lethal dance in space. 

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Slade demanded as he tried an overhead slash to Saber's head. 

The crimson Tekkaman easily blocked the attack and countered. "I am your executioner." 

The two exchanged a series of parries and counters. "How could you be a Tekkaman? I thought I was the only one!" 

"I am not just merely a Tekkaman." Saber replied as he kicked out with his right foot. "I am far above you as you are above those whom you side with." 

Slade parried the kick with his lance, then used his own counter-kick, but Saber simply swatted it away. "You cannot beat me! I know _ALL_ of your moves!" The enemy Tekkaman retaliated with a fast slash combo followed by another kick to the sternum. The son of Genma managed to block the lance, but couldn't evade the kick and was sent hurtling down toward the Nirvana with Saber following. 

The white Tekkaman slammed hard into the Nirvana's defense barrier, but before he could recover, Saber crashed hard into him with a shoulder charge and his thrusters going at full throttle. The shield was already weakened from the constant barrages from the enemy forces, and certain areas had some gaps. The place where the two were pressing up against was extremely unstable and a moment later, the Tekkamen broke through and landed on the hull of the pirate vessel, near the bridge. 

---------- 

"MR. ALIEN!" 

Dita wanted desperately to combine with him, but with the copy of her Tekkadread constantly firing at her, she couldn't come anywhere near him. Meia gritted her teeth as her own adversary, a clone of her Tekkadread, continued to plague her. It was just too fast! As for Jura, she too found it difficult to deal with her enemy without fusing with the Tekkaman Slade. Her shots were absolutely worthless against the fake's barrier. With all three Paksis-enhanced fighters occupied, the Tekkabot currently inoperative, and the remaining pirate forces too busy engaging the Earth flagship and its escorts, the injured Tekkaman Slade was on his own. 

---------- 

On the bridge, Magno and her crew were speechless as they could do nothing but watch the battle that was taking place on the ship's hull. Slade was taking several hits as Saber continued to press his attack. So far, the Nirvana's Tekkaman had managed to hold his own, but the pirate captain knew that with his injuries, he couldn't maintain such an intense pace for very long. She wished that the ship had some kind of weaponry to help, but so far, Parfat had found nothing along those lines ever since the Nirvana had been created. 

---------- 

Slade winced, as he was slammed hard onto his back. He just barely managed to bring up his lance to parry his opponent's stab at his midsection. A kick to Saber's side made the scarlet Tekkaman momentarily lose his balance. Nodoka's son then began rolling away. At the same time, Saber started stabbing at his downed opponent, causing some wicked holes on the metal surface of the hull every time he missed his target. Unfortunately, this inadvertently caused another kind of reaction. 

---------- 

"OW OW! OW! OW!" Bart screamed as he felt some kind of stabbing pain in his head. 

Magno gasped as she realized what was happening. Apparently, the cybernetic link between Bart and the Nirvana was causing the navigator to receive some painful feedback from the two Tekkamen battling on the hull. They couldn't afford to lose Bart, now that he was finally back on the bridge. She immediately raised Slade. 

"D-Boy! Get off the ship! You're going to kill Bart if you keep this up!" 

---------- 

The martial artist caught the message and let loose with his thrusters at full throttle. Saber was caught off guard when his foe suddenly rammed into him. The force of the impact drove them both off the hull, past the defensive barrier and out into space again. The two backed off a bit from each other, then resumed their battle. 

The combatants darted all over the area, as explosions, lasers, cannon shots and missiles criss-crossed the star-studded background. The battle that raged around them, between the Mejele pirates and the Harvesters, was totally ignored by the two antagonists, as they were only focused on each other. It seemed that the outcome of this duel would decide the fate of everyone present. 

Saber swung his lance in a wide arc, launching the tip of his weapon at his opponent. The projectile hurtled toward Slade like a homing missile. The target in question launched his own versions from his lance. Twin V-shaped blades deflected Saber's attack before returning to their master. Slade thought he had an opening as he charged in, but Saber dodged his thrust, then delivered a kick to Slade's midsection. Unable to stop his momentum in time, Slade was hit hard and driven back. Then the red Tekkaman thrust out with a fist and caught Slade hard in the chest. He followed through with a series of slashes, in which his foe couldn't stop entirely. Five slashes hit home and ripped up the front of the white Tekkaman's armor. Another savage kick caused Slade to be knocked toward the enemy flagship. 

At this point, the battle began to reach its climax as the Earth mothership opened fire on the severely injured space warrior. Several hits caught him in the back as Slade tried to muster up the last remaining vestiges of his strength. He knew that he was going down, but he swore that he'd take that Saber bastard with him! 

---------- 

The Mejele pirates were valiant fighters and their long history of successes was a testament as to how effective they were as a group. However, there were times in which a person must admit that one was over one's head. This was most definitely one of those times. 

Magno and BC knew that if the battle dragged on any longer, they would lose irreplaceable pilots and crewmembers. The appearance of Slade had boosted morale and had temporarily turned the tide, but now with the Tekkadread Clones and that new Tekkaman keeping the Nivana's tactical advantages occupied, the remaining Dread and Vanguard pilots were being overwhelmed. Due to the schism caused by the mutiny, formations were breaking down and chaos was running rampant. Finally, Magno decided on the last resort... retreat.

"Initiate automatic recall of all Dread and Vanguards! Bring them back now!" She then directed her attention to Bart. "Navigator! Set a new heading to these coordinates!" 

Inside the well, Bart became confused when he received the new coordinates. "Huh? You want us to go in there?!"

"Just do it!" 

---------- 

Slade winced as another one of Saber's attacks hit home. At this moment, his armor was dented and cracked in several areas, along with a few gashes. His opponent had suffered some damage, but it was mostly superficial. The white Tekkaman knew that if wanted to defeat Saber, he would have to do it now! 

The crimson Tekkaman knew that he was on the verge of victory. More and more of his attacks were getting through his opponent's diminishing defense. Slade was now only putting up only a token amount of resistance. As of now, Slade was now just drifting in space. Saber had hoped for a more intense fight, to put his newfound powers and skills to test. 

However, he must finish off the Tekkaman Slade and continue Operation Harvest. With that in mind, he leveled his lance at his now helpless foe and charged in for the final kill. 

"THIS IS... YOUR FINISH!" 

---------- 

"MR. ALIEN!"

"SLADE!"

"COMMANDER!"

"D-BOY!" 

---------- 

Whether he had heard the voices of his comrades would never be determined that day, but as Saber was just about skewer Slade through the heart, the white Tekkaman shifted at the last possible instant. The point of Saber's lance punched through the weakened armor, but missed the heart by millimeters. The end was jammed through his ribs and mangled a lung. Blood began to spurt out into globules in space as part of the point protruded out through his back. 

---------- 

"SLADE!" Meia cried out as she saw the Tekkaman become impaled on Saber's weapon. Unfortunately, this had caused her to grow careless and she momentarily forgotten about her adversary. The Tekkdread Clone made a tight turn and opened fire. The blast sheared off the right stabilizer wing of Meia's Dread, causing the craft to spin out of control. 

Luckily for her, Gascogne's ship was on the scene. Using the grappling arms, she grabbed hold of Meia's stricken fighter and began carrying it to the Nirvana. Inside her cockpit, the Dread Leader nursed a bad wound on her shoulder, which she had received when she had been jostled about, after being hit. She looked back and saw that the other Dreads and the Vanguards were following them towards the gas giant. 

---------- 

Slade let off a scream of absolute agony as his tormentor began to twist his blade. As he felt shock begin to wash over his body, one hand gripped the shaft of Saber's lance, while the other held onto one half of his own weapon. The other half of Slade's lance fell away, leaving him with a kind of short sword with a serrated, triangular blade. He brought it up and jammed it into Saber's face! 

The red Tekkaman howled as Slade's weapon pierced his helmet and ripped into the left side of his face. This caused him to let go of his weapon and his opponent took this opportunity to kick him hard in the midsection, knocking him even further back. This also caused Slade to be propelled backward toward the gaseous giant, where coincidentally, the Nirvana and the other pilots were retreating to. However, the enemy fighters and the flagship were bearing down on them to intercept. 

Slade knew that he wasn't going to survive. He could already feel his body growing cold and numb. However, as he fell toward the gas giant, caught in its immense gravitational fields, he decided to do as much damage to enemy as he could before meeting his maker. His shoulder units flipped up as he took aim at Saber, who had just pulled his blade out of his face. Energy began to collect as Slade prepared to fire. 

---------- 

Saber was enraged as well as feeling pain as he savagely removed the blade from his face. Through his one good eye, he saw that Slade was about to launch his Voltekker at him. Well, that suited him just fine as the gemlike protrusions on his torso began to glow with a scarlet light. It was time to show him who was the strongest Tekkaman! 

---------- 

Slade said his final prayers as he let loose with his strongest weapon. 

"VOLTEKKER!" 

---------- 

Saber smirked from behind his damaged helmet as he unleashed his attack. 

"ANTI-VOLTEKKER!" 

---------- 

Unlike Slade's beam, which was a solid, green white blast, Saber's attack consisted of several scarlet beams, which lanced out, expanded, then converged together on his target. The Voltekker beam was engulfed and neutralized as the Anti-Voltekker struck Slade with lethal results. 

Slade let off one final scream as he felt his body being savaged by Saber's attack. His armor was ripped up and shredded like tinfoil as the energies played havoc with his insides. Soon, the white Tekkaman became like a flaming meteor as he plunged into the gas giant's outer ionosphere. Several of the enemy ships, including the three Tekkadread Clones, tried to follow them in, but they soon discovered that they couldn't withstand the intense gravitational fields. The Copy Tekkadread Meia exploded when it charged in, along with a Seed Ship, but the Copy Tekkadread Jura put up a force field to protect itself and Copy Tekkadread Dita. They quickly exited the planet's ionosphere. 

----------

With shields on full, the Nirvana was safe for a while inside the planet's gravitational fields. On the bridge, Magno waited for news of the Dread and Vanguard return. Eventually, everyone was safe and accounted for, with the exception of three Dread pilots, the head supplier... and one Tekkaman. 

---------- 

"Come on, D-Boy! I can't hold out much longer!" 

Gascogne had spotted Slade the moment she and the remaining Dreads entered the gas giant's outer layers of gases and energy storms. She had been trying to grab hold of the falling Tekkaman with one of her ship's grappling arms, but in order to do so; she had to drop her ship's protective barrier. As of now, the hull was threatening buckle under the intense gravitational fields. Behind her, Dita and Jura followed her. They could not do anything in their non-fused fighters and hoped that the head supplier would make the catch before she ran out of time. 

After one minute of trying her best, Gascogne knew that any longer and her ship would be crushed, along with Meia's. She was just about to reactivate the barrier when she caught some movement from Slade. 

Slade was just barely conscious when he saw the supply ship so tantalizingly close, yet so far. His thrusters were inoperative and he could barely move. However, he had just enough strength for one last act. Raising his right arm, he aimed for the grappling claw. Though his vision began to blur, he focused on his target and fired off an energy cable. The line wrapped itself around the grappling arm. 

Gascogne smiled in triumph as she reeled in the Tekkaman and activated her barrier. With both Meia and Slade safely aboard, she, Dita and Jura made their way to the awaiting Nirvana. 

---------- 

"Clear the emergency room! _NOW_!" 

Slade's battered and bloodied body was wheeled into the operating area as Duero immediately started hooking him up to several instruments, and instructed Paiway to begin administering sedatives. The Tekkaman had automatically reverted back to his human form when he came aboard the Nivana, and tightly clutched in his right hand was his Tekkacrystal. The crystal had lost much of its emerald sheen and was cracked in several places. Slade's eyes gazed up at the ceiling as he felt his body grew ever colder and his breathing became shallower. 

"We have to prevent him from going further into shock! He's lost a lot of blood and has suffered severe trauma to his chest and back!" 

Both doctor and apprentice nurse worked feverishly to save Slade. At that moment, Dita, Meia and Jura burst into the room. 

"How is he?" 

"Is he going to be all right?" 

"How bad is Mr. Alien hurt?" 

The doctor was about to order the three of them out of the emergency ward when Slade's pulse meter began giving off warning alarms. The Tekkaman's heart rate was increasing dramatically as his body began convulsing out of control. Duero tried to hold him down, but he contained to tremble until finally, his body stiffened and then fell back on the gurney. His eyes closed as his right hand went limp. The pulse meter began showing a flatline. 

The three Dread pilots gazed upon the unmoving Slade in total shock. At that moment, his Tekkacrystal fell out of his now lifeless hand and shattered into several pieces on the floor. 

"MR. ALIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNNN!" 

END OF PART ONE f 


	16. Chapter 13, Part 2: Remembrance

**TEKKADREAD**

Disclaimer: Vandread, Ranma 1/2 and Tekkaman Blade all belong to their respective creators and no money is being made off this piece of fiction.

: Thoughts

: Telepathic communication

**Chapter 13**

**Part 2**

**Remembrance**

Slade was dead.

The Nirvana's head physician had tried everything to revive his patient; CPR, chemical stimulants, defibrillation, electromagnetic brainwave pulsators, and whatever else his medical training and advanced Mejele technology could offer. However, nothing he could do would make Slade return to the land of the living.

Finally, after a full hour, he at last acknowledged that it was no use. With a heavy heart, Duero McFile pulled the cover over the downed warrior's face and declared him clinically deceased at 1730 hours. With reverence, he bowed his head in silence, in respect for a great fighter, and an even greater friend.

----------

Slade's demise caused repercussions throughout the Nirvana's crew as the craft was amid heavy gravitational fields and electromagnetic storms, deep within the gas giant. Outside of the ionosphere, the Earth Fleet waited patiently for the pirates to come out, if they ever did. If they chose to emerge from the raging storms of the gas giant, they would face the astronomical might of the Earth flagship and its escort fleet, as well as the Tekkaman who had defeated Slade; the merciless Saber. If the pirates opted to remain where they were, then they would be doomed to die from the intense gravitational fields and electromagnetic storms, once their power supplies were exhausted. As of now, the Nirvana only had enough energy to maintain its barrier for 72 hours.

There was a somber, despondent attitude among the females of Magno's crew. Each one tried to deal with the fact that Slade was gone and that it was very likely that she would join him in the Great Beyond in the next three days. A few were glad that he was gone, (due to their ingrained hatred of all men), but MOST of the crew members who had initially joined Barnette's side during the mutiny, now saw the error of their rash and impulsive actions. As a result, those who had renounced their childhood beliefs shunned Jura's friend. Duero and Bart were no longer persecuted on the basis of their gender. After all, what would be the point? They would all be dead soon.

Those who believed that the end was near had decided to throw caution to the wind and began abandoning their posts and duties. Several members of the Dread and Vanguard pilots went on alcoholic binges to try and drown their sorrows in wine. Others isolated themselves in their quarters and would refuse to come out for any reason. Thankfully, none had contemplated suicide... yet. A few girls in particular, were especially inconsolable...

----------

"Mr Alien! (sob) Why did you... (sob) have to die?"

Dita was kneeling in the middle of her room with a small object clutched to her chest. It was the rough diamond pendant that Slade had fashioned out of a lump of coal for her Christmas present. Among her prized collection of 'alien' artifacts, it was her most cherished possession. After all, it came directly from a REAL alien.

To Dita, anything that did not come from her home planet of Mejele was considered as alien to the usually enthusiastic girl. The all-female world was so... ordinary to her. Ever since she was young, she had always looked to the stars and wondered just what was out there. Hearing about the so-called terrible 'men' only fueled her desire to venture forth into space. When she had joined up with the pirates, she knew that she had the perfect opportunity to see what the universe had to offer. She could still remember her First Contact...

----------

Flashback...

Dita: "Wow! It's a real live alien!"

Slade: "Who are you calling an alien?!"

End of flashback...

----------

Ever since that first encounter, she wanted nothing more than to learn all she could about Mr. Alien. She had never encountered a man before, and he was always showing new skills and amazing powers. As she spent more and more time with him, she had begun to have certain feelings about him that she didn't understand. 

Why would her heart skip a beat every time she came near him? Why would she always feel like swooning whenever he was around? Why did she so weak, yet so strong whenever he talked to her? She wanted to be just like him! She wanted to be with him, forever. Was it because... he had been part of her very soul?

Now that he was gone, an empty void in her very being had formed and it seemed that nothing could repair it. Her very spirit had been shattered along with Slade's Tekkacrystal.

----------

The engineering section...

Parfat gazed at the broken remnants of the Tekkacrystal on her worktable. She had gathered up every last shard and fragment of the once mighty key to the Tekkaman Power Process. She had been working in vain to piece it back together, but had been unsuccessful. She still did not have a full understanding of Radam biotechnology or how Slade used his ki to control it. She had made several attempts to fuse the broken pieces together with welding tools, lasers and plasma binders, but nothing worked. The broken Tekkacrystal rejected every process.

The head engineer sighed as she stood up and looked over to her _OTHER_ failure. Well, technically Pegas wasn't really a failure. It was just so badly damaged that she had no hope of repairing it in time for the pirates' next and possibly, final confrontation with the enemy. If only it could be restored to its original state! Then Parfat could finish the modifications she had been working on and Slade could...

As soon as she thought about Slade, her head bowed down in sadness and depression. What would be the use? The Tekkabot would only allow Slade to be its controller and the new modifications she had planned were worthless without him. She began asking herself why she was wasting her time with trying to rebuild the Tekkacrystal, in the faint hope that she could figure out how the Tekkaman Power Process worked. Instead, she should be more concerned on how to get more power to the barrier and keep everyone aboard the Nirvana alive.

Then again, what would be the point in that? Eventually, the barrier would give out and the intense gravity fields would crush the crew, if the electromagnetic storms didn't reduce them to atomic particles first. And if they decide to face the enemy, Parfat didn't give very good odds of anyone escaping the Harvest.

The bespectacled girl had one bit of solace. When the end came, she would at least perish with all of her friends and... Duero.

When Parfat became among the first girls to actually form a friendship with the so-called 'enemy to all women,' many of her colleagues had thought that she had gone mad. However, with her natural curiosity and easy-going attitude, the head engineer had begun a movement toward acceptance and even trust between the genders. With the example of Slade and his relationships with the Register, the Dread and Vanguard teams, plus individuals such as Meia, Ukyo, Xian Pu, Jura, and of course, Dita; Parfat had found the prospect of men and women living together in harmony more than just a possibility. It had become a reality on the Nirvana.

However, that dream had died along with Slade, and it seemed that the mechanical genius had no more rabbits to pull out of her hat to save the crew this time. 

----------

The Register...

As her staff went about its duties, Gascogne had decided to spend some time alone in her office. As she sat in front of her console, she contemplated the deck of cards in her hands. She began thinking back to her games with the Tekkaman. Though he was one of the worst card players she had ever encountered, Slade had never once complained about constantly losing, and was always happy to engage the head supplier in a few hands of Poker. Just about all the other girls wouldn't play against her, since the muscular woman was just too good with cards. 

Now, she didn't have anyone to play against and she really missed having the hard-working D-Boy at the Register. She had been hoping to sample some more of his cooking, ever since he had helped prepare that Christmas feast. Gascogne smiled a bit as she also remembered how good he had looked in that tuxedo uniform. He had been efficient and the Register just wasn't the same without him. He was the only person on the Nirvana, in which she'd allow to call her Gasco.

----------

Meia was extremely quiet as she sat in her room. Normally, this would not have been surprising as the Dread Leader was usually non-talkative unless she was giving orders. However, this silence was due to a much more profound reason. Her shoulder had been neatly bandaged up and Duero had assured her that she could still pilot her Dread against the enemy if she had to. However, like BC and the Captain, she too had realized the gravity of the situation they were now in. Their greatest tactical advantage against the Harvesters was gone. The second-in-command of their defenses was dead. Meia knew that they couldn't win with just Dreads and Vanguards. Morale was down and team spirit was just about nonexistent. However, like the tactician that she was, Meia tried to figure a way out of this. It was what Slade would have done. He never gave up and would always look for new options.

On that thought, the aqua-haired girl found herself smirking a bit. Here she was comparing herself to a man. It hadn't been that long go since she would have scoffed at the idea of a male even having any worth. However, that had all changed when Slade had arrived. She could still remember the time in which Slade had challenged her...

----------

Flashback...

Slade: "Ah, ah! The warrior who loses her temper has already lost the battle."

Meia: "AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH!"

End of flashback...

----------

Meia's posterior still winced from that memory of being thrown across the hanger. Still, that event, along with those times on that desert world and in that asteroid field, made her realize the importance of relying on her teammates and to accept new ideas, even from men. She had let go of her pride and soon saw that Slade indeed had a lot to offer, along with the other men. The pirates wouldn't have gotten as far as they did without them. 

Slade often appeared to Meia as an enigma. He most certainly wasn't from Tarak, and would frequently display talents and knowledge that someone from Mejele would have never expected from a man. The more she learned about him, the more her curiosity was aroused. Was he even human? All of her being told the Dread Leader that he was, and after seeing him die in front of her eyes, she knew that he had been mortal. Still, that did not explain how he could have such power and knowledge.

Meia shook her head as she tried to make sense out of it and why she was feeling so strongly about him. Just what was it about him that had caused her to be drawn toward him?

----------

The Sick Bay...

Paiway was feeling sad, and she had good reason. After all, she had been the one who had inadvertently caused the series of events, which had led to Slade's death. She had not expected her little mistake to have such dire consequences. It just that she was so angry when her best friend Dita seemed to be ignoring her to be with her 'Mr. Alien.' She had only wanted to get back at him for taking all of her friend's attention, especially on the anniversary of her joining Magno's pirates. However, that one error may very well have cost everyone's lives. She had later confessed to Jura when she had later come to the Sick Bay.

The eleven-year-old girl fell even deeper in her depression. There was just no way out of this mess. They might as well give up all hope. They were finished... and she couldn't deny that she had played a key role in their eventual demise.

----------

Ukyo the seventeenth sighed as she absently made some okonomiyaki on her grill. As she flipped the batter, her thoughts went back to the day in which Slade had saved her life. When he had prevented that stack of missiles from falling down on top of her, he had made the first crack in her wall of hate toward men.

Since the time of Ukyo the first, all the females of her line had been taught from the cradle to detest the opposite gender. They were the enemy and could not be trusted. They had no honor and were to be treated like the scum that they were. However, try as she might, she couldn't bring herself to hate Slade after he had saved her life that day. In fact, she had grown to respect him, though for the life of her, she couldn't figure out how he could have known about her family's special recipe. She had been meaning to ask him, but now it was too late.

----------

Xian Pu sweated as she finished her kata in the ship's gymnasium. She had been going through her training exercises nonstop since it was announced that the Warrior Squadron's commander had died in combat. According to her ancient Amazon heritage, there was no greater way to meet one's end; save for dying of old age, surrounded by many grandchildren. 

The Amazon pilot was disappointed with several members of her squadron, who had decided to throw in the towel and gone off either to get drunk or lock themselves in their quarters. It seemed that when Slade died, the cohesion and camaraderie of the group had died with him. That kind of attitude did set well with the warrior girl and she had been forced to take punitive measures against her fellow pilots for their lack of discipline. However, she couldn't stop them in their grief, and now about half the squadron was either physically or mentally fit for battle. However, she couldn't really blame them. After Slade's death, she had too had lost much of her will to go on. After all that they had been through together, all that they had learned from him, the fire of their group now seemed to have been reduced to a flicker. 

They had been the first combat group to use the hated men's machines, which had been designed to be used against them. They were also the first to have a male leader. Despite their initial distaste and reluctance to follow a man's orders, they had eventually developed a bond of loyalty for him. He had always looked out for them. Though his training was intense and at times almost impossibly rough, they came to understand that he did it all for their sakes, to prepare them for the worst. He played no favorites and treated everyone the same. He would often drill the girls through hours and hours of grueling practice sessions until they all mastered the techniques and worked together as one. And the original Shampoo's descendant had to admit that it had worked. Before Slade had met his end, the Warrior Squadron had been forged into a force to be reckoned with and respected.

Now, the unthinkable had happened and the Tekkaman had been slain. Xian Pu had thought that he had been invincible, that no one could ever conquer him, either as himself or in his armor. However, she now knew that he had been mortal, and that he had... a human soul. He had not been the Mr. Alien' that Dita had made him out to be. He had not been the otherworldly war demon that he had appeared to be. In a way, it had been an object lesson for Xian and the other Vanguard pilots. No one was indestructible. 

However, unlike some of the other mecha operators, she had not completely lost her faith. Slade had the utmost confidence in the squadron and in his second, right up to the time that he died. The Amazon had decided that she would continue on with what her commander had started. It would have been what he wanted her to do. She would keep on fighting the enemy, and if that meant that she would meet her end, then she'll do it in a blaze of glory. Despite being a man, Slade had shown the true Amazon spirit. Her ancestors would have been proud.

----------

The Conference Room...

Captain, you can't blame yourself for what happened. BC said as she and her superior spoke alone.

The aged woman let off a long and saddened sigh. And why shouldn't I feel that this whole mess was my fault? I _SHOULD_ have stopped the mutiny before it got out of hand! I'm the _CAPTAIN_... and yet I just let it happen. And now, here we are... trapped inside a gas giant with the Earth fleet waiting outside for us. We can't retreat, but at the same time, we can't just surrender. Either way... we'd be dead. If only I had stopped Slade from leaving, then getting himself killed to help us...

Captain, you can't start second-guessing yourself. What's done is done. Buzom emphasized. We can't change the past. I am also experiencing the pain that you and everyone else on this ship is feeling. I want Slade to be back as much as the rest of the crew does, but we must accept the fact that he's gone now. We have to start planning to deal with our present situation as well as for our futures!

Our futures, eh? The elderly woman gave her First Mate a sad smile. And exactly what would you propose that we could do to deal with that flagship and fleet? We don't have the Tekkadreads any more. It's already been proven that the Dreads and Vanguards aren't enough by themselves, especially against that _MONSTER_ out there, and I'm _NOT_ talking about that Earth battleship.

----------

The enemy flagship...

Deep within the bowels of the main craft, a certain figure was being slowly regenerated inside a large, cylindrical device. The individual was encased in crimson and brown armor. As Saber floated motionless in the amber-colored fluid, his began picking up cybernetic communications from his masters from Earth.

You have done well, Saber. The accursed Tekkaman Slade has been destroyed. One Earth leader commented.

As he continued to heal within the chamber, the Tekkaman replied arrogantly. Was there any doubt? I am after all, the greatest warrior in the universe!

We do not care for that kind of tone, Saber. Another Earth leader warned. Remember that _WE_ were the ones who made you. Before we recreated your body, you were just another wretch from the lower cities, begging for replacement organs. We made you and we can just as easily _BREAK_ you.

I... have not forgotten... _MASTERS_. Saber gritted.

See that you do not. Now, all that stand in the way of the Harvest are those female pirates and their two male allies.

They are nothing without Slade! I will obliterate them all, if they decide to come out of that gas giant.

We would prefer, if you would not destroy a potential supply of fine organs and bodies. Kill them all if you desire, but make certain that their remains are still usable.

I am not a mere drone! I am Tekkaman Saber! I am...

_YOU_ are nothing but our servant! A third Earth leader interrupted. Or shall we remind you of your place?

A moment later, Saber began convulsing in agony as searing pain tore through his limbs and caused an intense stabbing sensation in his head. A minute later, the pain stopped and Saber stopped thrashing about. He took several deep breaths as another Earth leader continued.

We did not give you the powers of a Tekkaman, without installing a failsafe, should you entertain any thoughts of defying us. You are ours to command. Never forget that.

Of course... _MASTERS_...

----------

Back on the Nirvana...

**_WHAP!_**

Barnette was in a state of shock as she held her stinging right cheek. Jura had just slapped her!

W-What was that for?! The brunette asked. In all the years that the two had known each other, the blonde pilot had never raised a hand to her. Now Jura was glaring at her as if Barnette had murdered her mother.

I can't believe what you just said, Barnette. And I thought Meia was cold. Jura said with none of her usual vain attitude and self-centeredness. In fact, it was one of those rare times in which she was _DEAD_ serious.

W-What are you talking about? All I said was that now that useless jerk Slade is finally out of our lives...

**_WHAP!_**

Barnette now found herself with both cheeks stinging.

Take... that... back! Jura growled.

What's the matter with you, Jura? Barnette was in total confusion. Why are you being so upset about some man? He was the enemy! He was...

What's the matter? I'll tell you what's the matter, dear Barnette. Jura replied in a sing-songlike voice. What's the matter is that I just found out that I love a heartless and vindictive person, that's what!

Slade was a man, but he was _MORE_ than that. In case you've forgotten, he did a lot for this ship. Even I could see that, but apparently, you didn't or you didn't want to admit all the good he had done.

What are you talking about?

What I'm talking about is the way you're treating his very memory. At the very _LEAST_, you could give that memory some dignity! Slade deserved that much.

Why should I? Barnette shot back as her own anger had begun to rise. He was nothing but trouble, ever since he came aboard this ship! He ate too much, he became too bossy and no one stood up to him except me! And thanks to him, we are all going to die! Why would I want to remember someone like that?

Jura became silent, deadly silent, which caused Barnette's anger to drop. The Dread pilot always got nervous when her best friend was like this. Finally, Jura spoke in a tone that was devoid of emotion. And people think that _I'M_ shallow? What you just shown right now has put everything that I ever did to shame. And that's what I feel about you Barnette... absolute _SHAME_. Slade was a man, yes, but he was also a human being. He did what he could to help us, right up to the end. You can't blame him for what happened. I spoke to Paiway after he died and she told me the whole story. He and Dita were telling the truth. And I also realized that you used that opportunity, so you could turn everyone against him.

W-What are you saying?

I'm saying that _YOU_ Barnette, were jealous of him.

Me? Jealous of a man? That's ridiculous!

Is it? I don't think so. I'd say that I'm dead right. Every time you challenged him, he met every test and exceeded it. He showed that he could sing, play music, that he could cook and so on. And you know what? Not once did he ever gloat. And I think that was what irritated you the most.

That's right, Barnette. He _NEVER_ gloated. You were always expecting him to rub it in every time he beat you, but he never did. And do you know why? It's because he respected you as a human being.

I don't believe this!

Whether you believe me or not doesn't change that fact. Now the reason why I'm so ashamed of you right now, is because a shallow' person such as myself, saw all of that, but a smart person like you didn't. What's even more shameful is that even after I've explained it all to you, you still won't accept the truth.

That's absurd!

Jura sadly shook her head at her best friend's continual state of denial. Finally, after taking another long, hard look at her, she then responded with finality. I was once like you Barnette. I once hated all men, but Slade showed me that he wasn't at all like I believed men to be. He was the one man that I was proud to fight alongside with. And if you can't even accept the fact of how much he did for us, then there's no point in continuing this conversation. Now get out.

Until you think about what you did to him, and make your own peace with him, then I don't want anything more to do with you! _NOW GET OUT_!

After shoving Barnette out of her chambers, Jura locked the door and finally let all of her emotions loose. Tears flowed down her cheeks in rivers and collected in a small puddle on the floor. She had loved Barnette dearly and pushing her away had torn at her very soul. However, she could not stand to be with her after what she had done to Slade. She felt her heart being torn in different directions and she couldn't make sense of all of it. On one side was her long-standing devotion to Barnette. On the other side was her newfound admiration, respect and perhaps something more for Slade... a man. Her thoughts wandered back to the kiss they had shared on Anpathos. Just what were those feelings she had experienced when their lips had touched? It had been similar to what she felt when she kissed Barnette, and yet it was so very different?

----------

I can't believe that she slapped me, then threw me out! More than half the crew won't speak to me! Its all Slades fault! Barnette sobbed as she sat in the Register's office with Gascogne.

The head supplier gave the Dread pilot a bit of glare before sipping her tea. She then spoke in a quiet voice. Actually, I don't blame Jura.

Barnette's head snapped up. 

The muscular woman nodded. If she hadn't slapped you, then I _WOULD_ have, after what happened to Slade. Here you are, blaming D-Boy for something that you brought upon yourself, and he hasn't been dead for more than three hours. That's low, Barnette... and cold.

The Dread pilot couldn't believe that she was hearing this. Are you against me too? Are you taking the men's side?!

Gascogne shrugged. The side I'm taking is the side that I believe in, regardless of what gender it happens to be. Listen up, Barnette. D-Boy had never volunteered to be part of our crew, but he became one of us. He didn't have to go out and fight the enemy, but he did anyway. He didn't have to work in the Register, but he did. After that encounter with that Space Urchin, he didn't have to keep _ON_ working here, but he did. He didn't _WANT_ to be leader of the Vanguards, but he took command anyway. He didn't _HAVE_ to cook us Christmas dinner, but he did! And do you know why he did all that? With power he had, he could have abandoned us at any time, but he didn't! I'll tell you why. It's because he _BELIEVED_ in us!

He... believed in us?

That's right. It's as simple as that. He believed in all of us; men and women. And he saw that it could work! And when you started that mutiny, he began to lose faith in us.

He... had faith in us?

That's right. Gascogne nodded. The captain had the same thoughts as I did. Slade had stopped believing in the idea that men and women could work together. That is, until Xian Pu and the others brought him back. And during that last battle, he began believing in us again... right up to the end. Now tell me, do you honestly think that after all that, Slade is still to blame?

Barnette became silent as she took in Gascogne's words. After what seemed like an eternity, she slowly stood up with her head bowed down. She then turned and left the office without a word. 

The head supplier nodded as she watched the Dread pilot depart. As an expert card player, she had a lot of experience with reading facial expressions and body movements. She knew that certain people often put up fronts to hide their insecurities and doubts. Fronts such as Media's cold, calculating visage, Jura's vanity and hunger for fame, Dita's over-enthusiasm, and of course Barnette's outward toughness and hatred toward men. However, Slade had pierced those fronts and had caused a new kind of feeling within each of them. He had lent them his confidence and strength of will, and in turn, drew strength from them. Now that bond had been severed and the females were in a state of disarray without that seemingly symbiotic link that had made them stronger then they ad ever been before. Once again, Gascogne wondered how one person could instill such strength in so many.

----------

Barnette truly did not want to do this. However, the head supplier and Jura had been right on the mark. In order for her soul to move forward, she would have to deal with her past crimes. And so, she entered the chamber where Slade's body had been placed to await internment.

Among the pirates, death was not uncommon and those who had died during their voyages were usually given a burial in space, if they had not previously made arrangements to be buried on Mejele. Slade was no exception and his corpse was currently lying on a table with a sheet over it. After today, it would be place in a capsule-like coffin and launched into the void, to be returned to the cosmic space dust that all things came from.

She walked up to the body and stood in silence for a long time, gazing at the deceased Tekkaman. Off to one side were the broken pieces of his crystal, which would also be placed in his coffin along with his body. After a few minutes, she finally began making her peace with him.

Slade... I don't know if you can hear me, but wherever you are now, I want you to know that... I'm so sorry.

Barnette was surprised to feel a tear beginning to trickle down her cheek, but paid it no mind. She was so intent on making her peace that she didn't notice that the fragments of the Tekkacrystal had begun to glow.

----------

In the engineering section, another strange occurrence was taking place. Deep within the Paksis-infused circuits of the damaged Tekkabot, certain mechanisms began to activate. Pegas' eyes started to flicker with light. 

----------

Somewhere else, outside of the Universe...

Slade didn't know where he was, but it was so warm, yet dark. He felt no pain and it seemed that something was calling to him. He found himself being drawn to whatever was beckoning to him as he saw an even brighter light. The light was a brilliant green-white and seemed familiar...

With careful, measured steps, he began heading toward that light.

END OF PART TWO


	17. Chapter 13, Part 3: The Chosen Path

**TEKKADREAD**

Disclaimer: Vandread, Tekkaman Blade and Ranma 1/2 belong to their respective creators and no money is being made off this story using their characters.

: Thoughts

"": Telepathic communications

**Chapter 13**

**Part 3**

**The Chosen Path**

_Where am I? The last thing I remember was being in the Sick Bay. Then all of a sudden, I'm here... wherever here is._ Slade looked about as he was floating in an endless void of darkness. At first, he thought he was back in space again, but there were no stars, planets or any other heavenly bodies, and he was in his own clothes, instead of his armor. Another thing he noticed was that the void wasn't cold.

He then took a look at himself and saw that all the terrible wounds he had suffered from his battle with Saber were gone. His body was feeling no pain at all. In actuality, he wasn't feeling anything period. He caressed his face and arms and didn't feel a single thing. There was absolutely no sensation of touch whatsoever. Another oddity was that he wasn't breathing. He raised his hand to his mouth and could feel no breath. He placed his right index and middle fingers against his throat, then on his left wrist but couldn't detect a pulse. If he didn't have a heartbeat nor was he breathing then why was he still alive? Or was he alive?

His thoughts went back to his most recent memories, which were about his confrontation with the Tekkaman Saber. He had to admit that his opponent had totally overwhelmed him, and that he had been in no shape to take on such an adversary. Just where had he come from? His powers and abilities had mimicked his own. Slade winced as he remembered Saber's lance skewering him. If that was the case, then why didn't he have gaping holes in his chest and back? Then there was that strange weapon of his... what did he call it again?

----------

Flashback...

Slade: "VOLTEKKER!"

Saber: "ANTI-VOLTEKKER!"

----------

End of Flashback...

Those weird red beams had made a mockery of Slade's most powerful weapon and had shredded his armor like tinfoil. Then his recollections became blurry as he vaguely saw himself attaching to Gascogne's ship, then later lying on a gurney in the Nirvana's Sick Bay. Then he heard Dita scream out before he was enveloped into... nothingness.

_So is that it? Am I dead? Is this the afterlife?_ Slade thought as he scanned his surroundings. _Not much of an afterlife._ For a time, he simply floated in one place, not knowing what to do. Then, he caught a flicker of light out of the corner of his left eye. He turned toward it and saw a pinprick of luminescence in the distance. Slade wondered what it was and decided to investigate. After all, he didn't have anything else to do.

He took one tentative step toward it and saw that the bright light seemed slightly closer. He looked down and saw that his feet were touching nothing, so how could he move by walking without any surface?

_Heh. I guess when you're dead, then reality doesn't mean squat. Oh well._ Giving a nonchalant shrug with his shoulders, he started making his way toward that light. For a long period of time, Slade thought of nothing, but reaching his goal. For some unknown reason, he could sense that it was calling to him. However, just as he neared the circle of radiance, he stopped and thought for a moment. Weren't you supposed to stay away from the light at the end of the tunnel? He shrugged again and decided that it didn't matter, considering the mortal wounds he had sustained. There was probably no way that Duero could have saved him, if he hadn't already declared him clinically deceased, (and as a matter of fact, he had a few hours ago).

Slade took one final moment of consideration and then stepped into the light.

----------

In the plane of the living...

_Damn! I'm not good at this kind of thing._ Barnette sighed as she continued to make her peace in front of Slade's body. After saying the words, I'm sorry' to it, (a phrase in which she rarely used), the Dread pilot found herself at a loss of what else to say. What more could she say to a person, in which she had treated badly, since the day he came aboard the Nirvana?

"Jura... won't speak to me... until I speak to you. I think it's crazy that I'm pouring out my soul to a dead person, but... I guess it's the thought that counts, right?" _What am I doing?_

----------

Somewhere else...

The Tekkaman in question thought it odd that he was suddenly thinking of Barnette, but he simply pushed that random thought aside and looked about. The place was familiar enough. It was the Paksis. He had been there several times in his dreams and once before his last battle with Saber. It was an unending sea of green-white light that moved like the surface of an ocean. There was a quiet, soothing hum and there was not another soul as far as he could see. For a long time, Slade made no sound as he simply basked in the peaceful and non-stressful environment.

_Well... if this is what it's going to be like for the rest of eternity, then I suppose I should get used to it. I wonder if there's anyone else here?_

As if answering Slade's unspoken question, a low-pitched voice suddenly resonated within his mind.

"Who are you?"

Slade's head jerked up as he looked about for the source of the voice. "Huh? Who's there?"

The voice replied. "I am here."

"Where?"

"I am here." The voice repeated.

Slade looked about again, but could see no one else. He then began thinking that he might have just imagined the voice, then shook his head. He had definitely heard someone. He called out. "Listen... I can't see where you are. If you can, give me some kind of signal so I can find you."

"I AM HERE." The voice stressed.

"Here? Where? I don't understand."

"_YOU_ are here. I am here. _WE_ are here."

The martial artist tried to make sense of the voice's cryptic message, but still could not understand. "Listen, I need you to be more specific. What do you mean you are here?"

"You are in I."

Slade's face took on a new look of puzzlement. "Huh? You're saying... I'm in you?"

"You are here. I am here. You are in I."

"Okay... so what you're saying is... you're this place, right?"

"I am here."

"All right... at least we got that cleared up." Slade took in the information, then asked, "So what's your name? What do I call this place... I mean, what do I call you?"

"I am here."

"Uhhh... okay, scratch that question. So, are you the one that called me here? Did you want to ask me something?"

The voice went back to its original question. "Who are you?"

"Who am I? Oh, well Gasco called me D-Boy, and Dita called me Mr. Alien, but I go by the name of Slade."

"Who are you?" 

"Huh? I just told you, my name is Slade."

"Slade is not Slade. Who are you?"

"What do you mean I'm not me? Of course I'm Slade! I've been Slade as far back as I can remember!" The Tekkaman had begun to get a bit irritated at the voice. 

"You are Slade, but Slade is not Slade."

"Will you cut that out and give me a straight answer?"

The voice paused for a moment, then replied. "Slade is not you, but _YOU_ are Slade."

The Tekkaman considered the voice's response, then asked slowly, "So... what you are saying is that... my real name isn't Slade?"

"Correct."

_Finally! A straight answer!_ "Okay, I'll give you that. I really don't know much about my past and I've been using the name Slade, since it's the only name I can remember. So... do you know who I am? If you do, then I'd like to know."

In an instant, the entire expanse of green-white light became flooded with images. However, they came at such speed and magnitude, that Slade wasn't able to keep up with all of them. He managed to catch glimpses of several scenes that appeared to be familiar as they rushed by him, but overall, it was just one big jumble.

Then finally, the series of images came to a halt on one particular scene. Slade became very interested as he gazed upon a picture of a gentle-looking young woman holding an infant. He recognized the woman from his own dreams, only this time, her image was clear and now he could see the child in her arms. The baby looked like a boy with raven hair, with blue-gray eyes and...

_Hold on a minute!_ Slade took a closer look at the youngster and time seemed to stop as he made a startling discovery. _That's... me. It's really me! That's how I was when I was young! If that's the case... then this... woman was my..._

At that moment, the image winked out, leaving Slade alone again in the expanse of green-white nothingness.

"Hold on a minute! Was she really who I think she was? I need to know more about my past!"

The voice then said, "Past can wait, present cannot, future in line."

_Damn! We're back to that nonsense again!_

----------

The Nirvana...

Dita was still sniffling a bit when she finally decided that crying over Mr. Alien wasn't going to do any good. He wasn't coming back. She decided that she needed to get out of her room and go for a walk.

As she went through the door, she noticed right off that the attitude of the crew was different. Several of the residential areas were closed off and the hallways were emptier. Usually, Dita would pass by two or three crewmembers every minute or so, but now, she would only pass by one girl every ten minutes or longer. Those that she did meet were in a despairing mood. At first, she didn't think much of it, but as she continued on, the atmosphere became ever more dreary.

----------

That other place...

"Now wait a second! Why won't you show me any more?"

"Past can wait, will always be there. Present cannot wait and future is always arriving."

Slade became even more irritated at the voice of the Paksis. "What do you mean that the past can wait? I want to know my past now!"

"Past not important if present and future ignored."

"What are you talking about? All I got is my past! I don't have a present or future! I'm dead!"

"Slade who is not Slade still has present and future. Must take present and head toward future to learn past."

This caught the Tekkaman's attention. "Huh? What are you saying? Are you saying that I'm not dead yet?"

"Slade who is not Slade only gone because he thinks he is gone. Here knows this. Here and Slade _BOTH_ know this."

At that moment, a line symbol of Slade's Tekkacrystal appeared on his forehead. At the same time, the entire area began glowing brighter. The former Saotome then started _FEELING_ for the first time since he entered this place. He started to make the connection as he thought back to that time during the Paksis reactor implosion.

"Wait a minute... are you saying that you are somehow... connected to me from when those torpedoes hit? I remember feeling strange after the Nivana was formed. The Tekkaman Power System felt a bit off when I got my crystal back."

"Slade who is not Slade must return to present and future to learn past."

----------

Dita entered the bridge, but saw that everyone, including Magno and BC were in a state of despair. They didn't appear to care about anything. The life seemed to have been sucked out of all of them, and they were like soulless automatons. They didn't even register Dita's presence as each person simply gazed at her monitor. The red-haired pilot felt as if she was alone on the ship and she didn't like that feeling at all. Finally, she decided to do something about this.

----------

"Doctor! Please help me!"

Duero and Paiway turned to see Dita at the door to the Sick Bay.

"What is it Dita? What's wrong?" The physician asked.

"I need some medicine! Something to make all the others feel good again! Something to make the sadness go away!"

The healer gave the girl a sad smile and shook his head. "I'm sorry Dita, but I'm afraid there's no medicine for that."

"But what can I do to make everyone feel better?"

"There isn't anything that we can do!" Paiway replied bitterly. "It's all over! In three days, we're all going to die! What's the point of getting our hopes up? There's nothing left to hope for! Face it Dita, we're doomed!"

Dita became shocked to hear this from her childhood friend, then she ran off with new tears in her eyes.

----------

The other place...

"So what you're saying is that in order to learn about my past, I have to live in the present... and fight for my future? That's kind of hard to do when I'm dead, don't you think?"

"Slade who is not Slade had already begun his journey. He has only strayed off his chosen path. Now he only needs to be guided back."

"How the heck am I supposed to get back on track from being dead? Who's going to guide me back?"

-----------

"Can everyone hear me?"

All over the ship, the crew stopped wallowing in their own sorrows as Dita's voice was heard on the ship's intercom.

"I know that lots of people think I'm stupid. I know that lots of people don't like my enthusiasm. But all I can be is enthusiastic, because no one else will. I've always been happy with everyone aboard this ship and I can't stand to see everybody like this."

In her room, Dita sobbed a bit, then gathered up her courage to continue on.

"I know that everybody is sad that Mr. Alien is gone. I was the saddest when he (sob)... died. Then I remembered how happy we all were when he was with us. I also remembered how much he cared for every one of us. Some of us may not agree, but he was always there for us. Even after we drove him away, he still cared for us. Now, we're all so sad and stopped thinking about the future. I don't think that Mr. Alien would want us to do that. He always thought about tomorrow and never gave up! HE NEVER GAVE UP!"

Slowly, a new strength began to fill in the hearts of those who had thought that the future could not be changed.

"That's why... that's why I'm _NOT_ going to give up! Mr. Alien never gave up, so I'm not going to give up! If we all keep trying, then we _CAN_ win! Mr. Alien taught us all to work together! He taught us all to _CARE_! Even though he's gone, that doesn't mean that we should give up! That doesn't mean that we should stop caring! That doesn't mean that we should stop _LIVING_!"

----------

Xian Pu nodded as she felt some new confidence in herself and her teammates. 

_Dita is right! The commander never gave up, even when things looked bad!_

She decided to go to those who had given up and kick them out of their drunken stupor. They were going to fight like _TRUE_ warriors! It was time to get busy!

----------

"Mr. Alien is with us, in all of our hearts! He always has been and he always will be!"

----------

Ukyo stood up and began shaking off her depression. 

_What am I doing, just moping around? My ancestor wouldn't have just sat around and waited to die. There's work to be done!_

Her fingers started playing across her console as she began rearming the Dreads and Vanguards. Even if the odds were against them, she was going to make certain those Harvester bastards were going to pay dearly for messing with Magno's pirates. It was time to get busy.

----------

"Even if it seems hopeless, even if there's nothing left for us to do, we should live out our lives the way we want! Mr. Alien showed us that life is everyone's right. Men or women, to him it didn't matter! We all deserved to _LIVE_!"

----------

Meia smiled a bit as she tapped her communicator console, and signaled for the other Dread pilots to assemble, and start planning battle tactics. It was time to get busy.

----------

"We should fight not only for ourselves, but also for Mr. Alien... and our future!" (1)

----------

Parfat smiled as she turned toward her staff and began directing them in the engineering section. As some of the crew worked on the Paksis Reactor, the head engineer told others to begin restoring Pegas. Even though the Tekkaman was gone, she was going to finish what she had started. It was time to get busy.

----------

In the Sick Bay, Duero motioned for his nurse to begin prepping all the instruments and medical scanners. It seemed that they would soon become very busy.

----------

On the bridge, Magno smiled as she saw her bridge operators begin to show life again. Once more, the command center became active as the entire ship started to stir back to life. It seemed that Slade's influence was still with them, even if he was not. Things were going to get busy.

----------

Dita sniffled as she finished speaking and shut off the communicator. There was nothing more that she could say, though she was unaware of the effect her words had on the crew. As she stood up, she decided to see Slade's body one last time. Unknown to her, a small dot of blue light appeared on her forehead and took the shape of Slade's Tekkacrystal. It quickly flickered out as she emerged from her quarters. She was surprised to see the hallway no bustling with activity and wondered just what was going on. She then made a beeline to where Slade's body was.

----------

Meia didn't know why, but she suddenly felt the urge to go see Slade's body, before joining up with the other Dread pilots in the briefing room. She supposed that it was just to say her final farewells. On her forehead, a white dot of light appeared and took the shape of Slade's Tekkacrystal before fading away as she left her own quarters.

----------

Jura had decided to see if Barnette had gone to make her peace with Slade, before heading to the briefing room. On her own forehead, the same symbol as Meia and Dita's, appeared in red for a moment. The blonde pilot straightened herself up, wiped away the tears and exited her room.

----------

In the morgue of the Nirvana, Barnette had been silent ever since Dita had made her speech. She then looked down at Slade's body and shook her head while smiling. "You hear that Slade? Even now, she _STILL_ calls you Mr. Alien. Go figure."

----------

The other place...

Slade was about to ask the Paksis presence another question when three new dots of light appeared in the distance. He wondered just what was going on and then noticed that each dot seemed to be moving toward each other. One dot was blue, the second was white and the third was red. They seemed to be converging on a single point some distance in front of him.

Is_... this what that Paksis meant? Are these lights my guides back?_

Since Slade didn't have anything to lose, he decided to go for it. He began running toward the point in which the three dots of light would intersect each other. Just as he was about to reach his destination, the three dots of lights came together and expanded into a man-sized, emerald shape that resembled his Tekkacrystal. Making one final leap of faith, he dove into it and everything became dark.

----------

"Do you know how much I hate Dita's enthusiasm? It always irritated me at how she could be so cheerful." Barnette remarked. "How could anyone be smiling all the time?" She let off a long sigh. "I always thought of her as nothing but a ditz... but, after hearing her now, I can't help but feel proud of her. And I think it was because of you, Slade. You... believed in her, even when others... like me, thought differently. You believed in everyone, didn't you? And I went and threw it all in your face. I guess I did deserve to be slapped. No wonder Jura won't speak to me now. I wouldn't want to have anything to do with someone like me, too. But... I'm going to try to make it up to her... and to you. You... deserved that much, Slade. And wherever you are now, I hope that... you'll... forgive me."

Just as she finished speaking and was about to leave the morgue, Slade's body suddenly began emitting an aura of emerald green. At the same time, Jura, Meia and Dita arrived on the scene and were in awe at the sight. Slade's body rose from the table and floated straight up in mid-air. His arms were held out at an angle from his sides, mimicking the shape of the Tekkacrystal. The pieces of the object in question also rose from the table and fused back together. The crystal hovered just above Slade's head. Then a voice was heard echoing throughout the ship.

"TEKSETTER!"

Slade's eyes snapped open as his body was engulfed in a brilliant corona of light. This caused Barnette to be knocked off her feet and she landed hard on her posterior. Meia, Jura and Dita got their first, close-up look at Slade's transformation. The clothes he was wearing disintegrated as lines of crimson appeared on his forehead and traveled down his muscular form. Sections of Radam armor appeared and began fusing to flesh and bone. His entire form became encased in metal as the Tekkacrystal was absorbed. Then the light dispersed, leaving only a seven-foot tall space warrior standing before the awestruck Dread pilots.

----------

In the engineering section, Parfat was knocked off her feet as Pegas was suddenly engulfed in a flash of light. Its battered and broken form straightened out, as its surfaces became smooth. Its missing arm suddenly regenerated itself, as the Tekkabot became whole again. Then, a few moments later, the light faded away, leaving a completely repaired Pegas.

"I didn't know you had installed a nanofiber self-repair system, Parfat." One of the engineers said.

The bespectacled girl shook her head. "I didn't."

----------

The engineers that were near the Paksis chamber were also taken by surprise as the power source suddenly flashed. It was as if new life had been infused into it. The Paksis Pragma hummed with power as systems that were formally dead came alive, heralding the return of an old friend.

----------

Barnette and the others were still speechless as Slade stood before them. Then, the Tekkaman triggered the process to return to his human form. His armor faded away and he stood fully clothed before Jura's friend. He knelt down in front of her, smiled, then leaned forward to kiss her lightly on the forehead. He backed off and said...

"Apology accepted."

This proved to be too much for Barnette.

_**THUD!**_

Slade looked down at the pilot after she had just fainted and then glanced up at the three girls standing at the entrance to the morgue.

"Was it something I said?"

----------

The entire ship shivered at the sound of one voice.

"MR. ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!"

_**GLOMP!**_

Slade was bowled over as three females suddenly tackled him to the floor.

----------

On the enemy flagship...

Saber felt a strange sensation wash over him from within the regeneration tank. Something had just happened and the scarlet Tekkaman knew that something big was going to happen.

The great battle was on the horizon...

----------

A little while later...

The joyous atmosphere on the Nirvana rose to new heights as news of Slade's resurrection spread like wildfire. Dita refused to let go of her Mr. Alien and Slade was in danger of losing all circulation in his right arm. Presently, he was crowded on all sides by members of the Warrior Squadron, the Register and the Dread teams. He stood before Magno and BC on the bridge.

The old woman was close to shedding tears as she gazed upon the newly restored Tekkaman. Though there were a myriad of questions that she wanted to ask him, all she could say was...

"It's good to have you back, D-Boy."

The Tekkaman nodded. "It's good to be back and..." He turned to the girl who had his right arm in a vise-grip. "Would you mind letting go? _I DO_ need that arm."

Dita shook her head as she gripped even tighter. Around them, several girls began glaring at her. Meia and Jura found themselves envious that Dita was so close to him. The Dread leader had already been embarrassed when she had impulsively glomped onto Slade, but she couldn't help herself. Seeing him return to life had given her heart wings, and she felt more alive being with him than she had ever been. Even though she had steadfastly denied it afterwards.

Slade sighed as he used his free arm to firmly, but gently pry Dita off him. "You can't pilot your Dread like this, and I'm going to need you and everyone else working together, if we're going to get out of this mess."

This announcement perked everyone's attention. The fact that Slade was back had given their morale a much-needed boost. Now he had a solution to their current predicament? They became all ears. 

"You've thought of a way to defeat the enemy?" BC asked.

"I've... got an idea." Slade replied. "Meia and the others brought me up to date on the situation since I was... er, gone."

"So what is it?" The aged captain inquired.

"I... haven't worked out all the details yet, but let's just say that this plan is going to be a blast."

----------

An hour later in the briefing room...

"That's totally insane!" One of the Dread pilots comments as Slade outlined the main points of his plan on a holographic display.

The Tekkaman shrugged as he gestured to Pyoro. "According to the data, we're inside a gas giant with an unstable core. With enough energy output, we could cause a chain reaction and transform this planet into a small star. I'm pretty certain that the Harvesters won't be able to withstand the solar flares that will erupt from the star's creation. We can't beat them head-on, since they outnumber us by at least ten-to-one. In this way, we can take out nearly all of them and that flagship in one fell swoop."

"And what about us? Won't we get caught in those flares too?" A pilot from the Warrior Squadron asked.

"Timing is everything if this plan is to work." Slade replied. "Just before the core chain-reacts, we have to withdraw our forces out as quickly as possible. Therefore, we're going to only use a select number of Dreads to ignite the core."

Meia nodded as she continued with the briefing. "We're going to need at least twenty seconds to achieve our escape after the chain-reaction begins. Since my Tekkadread is the fastest, it's going to be part of the team to ignite the core, along with Dita and Barnette's fighters."

"What about the Harvester Fleet and that battleship? They're not going to sit around while we do this." Xian Pu asked.

"That's where you and Warrior Squadron come in." Slade explained. "Along with Jura, we're going to run some interference and keep them busy. It's going to be very close-quarters. The Vanguards and Tekkadread Jura are more suited for that kind of battle. Once that core ignites, get back to the Nirvana or get some distance ASAP until we're able to pick you up. Understood?"

Xian Pu and the other members under Slade's command saluted him, then headed off to prepare.

At that point, Meia turned to Slade and said, "There's just two details that you haven't addressed yet. We still have two of those fake Tekkadreads to deal with... and Saber."

"Yeah, I know. The way I see it, once we take out Saber, then the enemy fleet will lose their biggest advantage." 

"This isn't just to settle a personal score, is it?" Meia asked.

Slade smiled a bit. "Well, I guess it is partially personal, but Saber is a big threat all by himself. We take him down and we should be able to deal with those remaining two Tekkadread clones. The rest will just fall into place after that." _I hope._ He addressed Parfat. "Before I left the Nirvana, you mentioned that you had been working on some modifications on Pegas, right?"

The head engineer nodded. "Yep. And now that Pegas has been restored, I can finish what I started! Believe me, when I'm through, the next time you and Saber go head-to-head, it'll be _NO CONTEST_!"

"So how long will it take?"

"About a day or so, I think. We'll work all through the night if we have to."

"All right then. We're going to need all the firepower we can muster. We've got less than two days to get ready."

----------

As the ship bustled with activity, Slade decided to keep himself occupied by helping out in the Register for a while. After changing into his tuxedo, he made his way into the supply station, where Gascogne and her staff warmly greeted him.

"Hello D-Boy."

"Hey there, Gasco."

"How many times do I have to tell you? It's Gascogne!"

"And remember, I'm not D-Boy, I'm Slade!"

The two stared each other down in mock anger, then both broke into peals of laughter. The head supplier patted him on the shoulder and led him to his station, which was beside Ukyo's.

"Shouldn't you be training to get ready for the battle?" The descendant of the original Ucchan asked as Slade began working the console.

The Tekkaman shrugged as he replied. "I've already got some sessions lined up with the Warrior Squadron, but they can wait until all the Vanguards are fully modified for the operation. Say, why don't you join us?"

"Huh? Who me?" Ukyo was bit surprised at being asked.

"Yeah. From what Xian Pu told me, you study some martial arts yourself. I could also tell by the way you moved."

"Well, yes I do know some stuff." The brown-haired girl admitted. "My family has its own fighting style, based on cooking our specialty okonomiyaki."

"I see. I look forward to seeing it. So you'll come to the sessions?"

The Register girl paused for a minute, then nodded. "Sure, why not? It'll give me a chance to get some practice and work off some stress."

"Great." Slade then snapped his fingers. "Hey, here's a thought. Why don't you become a Vanguard pilot? The squadron can use some extra members, and having some experience in the martial arts is always a plus."

"Well... I don't know. I mean, I do a lot of work here already." Ukyo the seventeenth was also a bit nervous at the thought of working more closely with him in battle, as well as in the supply depot. 

"So do some of the other pilots." Slade said. "A few of them came from the Register as well as the Dread teams. Look, I'm not trying to pressure you into anything. If you don't want to join the Warrior Squadron, then that's all right. It's strictly on a volunteer basis."

The girl nodded. "After this is over, I'll think about it." She then went back to working her station.

----------

A while later, Slade finished off his assignments and logged off. He nodded to Ukyo as he prepared to leave. "Think you can make it to the gym after your shift? We'll probably keep on training until 2300 hours."

"I think so."

"Good, I'll see you then." Slade got up and headed toward the exit.

At that moment, Gascogne called out to him. "D-Boy! I hope you didn't forget our bet!"

Slade stopped for a moment to think. Then he snapped his fingers and nodded while calling back to her. "I haven't forgotten. After we kick the Harvesters' butts."

"What bet was that?" Ukyo asked.

The Tekkaman shrugged. "Gasco and me had a bet on a poker game a few days before I... died. I lost that bet and I've got to cook dinner for the Register staff."

"Really?" Ukyo then remembered something else she had wanted to know. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Where did you learn to cook okonomiyaki? I thought no one outside of my family knew how. You actually duplicated the Kuonji secret recipe last Christmas."

Slade shrugged again. "It's just something I picked up and experimented with during my travels. See you later Ucchan."

"See you then." Ukyo said as he exited the Register. Then she realized what he had called her. "Hey, wait a minute! How did you know my nickname?"

However, Slade was already gone.

----------

_Why did I just call here that?_ Slade wondered as he walked down the hallway. He said had said it without thinking. However, it had just sounded right to call her Ucchan. He remembered back to when the doctor had said that Slade had mentioned that name several times in his sleep. 

Slade then thought back to those images that the Paksis had shown to him. Though most of them had been blurs, he did remember a few scenes. One of them was an image of his younger self with another that looked like a child-version of Ukyo. He had not understood how that could be. He was pretty certain that he and Ukyo had never met, until after he had come aboard the Nirvana.

----------

On the enemy mothership, Saber finally emerged from the regeneration tank in a pool of gooey fluids. The Tekkaman's armor had been totally repaired, including the severe injury to his head. In a flash of crimson light, he reverted back to his human form. The armor faded away to reveal a slender, but muscular youth that appeared to be around his late teens to his early twenties. His skin was pale and his eyes had reddish pupils that had an evil glint to them. His hair was a lighter shade than Slade's raven locks, and in his right hand was a ruby-colored Tekkacrystal. Unlike Slade's, Saber's key to his transformation, had folding outer arms. 

His body was beyond top, physical condition, but that was only because of the harvested organs his creators had given to him and the further enhancements due to the Tekkaman Power Process. His insides were not his own, and more than a dozen innocent humans, (some of which were children), had been slaughtered to provide the means to create the Tekkaman. Before his body had been recreated, he had been one of the lower classes of wretches that inhabited the few remaining cities that remained on Earth. When he had been offered the chance at receiving prime organs, he immediately volunteered for the experiment. In addition, he would receive great power and be elevated to a position of importance, as the servant of the Harvestors. The leaders had thought they had found the perfect weapon: powerful, merciless, and obedient. However, unknown to the masters of the Harvestors, Saber had his own ambitions. 

During the process, which had transformed him into the brutal killing machine that he was now, Saber had secretly looked into the master database and learned of the biotechnology that he was being subjected to, including its history. The science had belonged to a race known as the Radam, and had eventually been taken by another alien race. The Radam had been made extinct and the conquerors later attacked the Earth during the Great Migration. While humankind had begun colonizing other worlds, including Tarak and Mejele, those that had remained on Earth managed to get a hold of Radam technology and adapt it for their use against the invaders. That evolved Radam technology would later be known... as Paksis. Only two prototypes were available at that time. The Earth defenders used one, while the other was taken aboard a colony ship known as the Ikazuchi.

Eventually, the Earth would be triumphant in defeating their adversaries, but at great cost. The victory ended in total genetic saturation of the citizens and in the end; the defenders became like the invaders. Now, survival and self-preservation became their only goal and to do so, they would take the organs of those who had managed to survive in the rigors of space. With their Paksis creating the Harvesting Fleet, there seemed to be nothing that could prevent them from succeeding.

Then the Tekkaman Slade appeared.

Now the Harvesters found themselves facing a most formidable obstacle. In turn, they would need a weapon of even greater power. Thus the Tekkaman Saber was born.

However, Saber had no intention of remaining as the lackey of the Harvesters. The Radam thirst for conquest was ingrained into his subconscious mind as soon as he had emerged from the Earth version of a Tekkapod. He had the power, so why should he use it in service of those lower than he? If it weren't for the obedience chip that they had implanted in his cerebral cortex, he would have annihilated the Earth leaders. 

For now, Saber would bide his time, until his window of opportunity would arrive. At present, he was charged with the final defeat of the Nirvana and the harvest of its crew. The pirate vessel still had not emerged from the gas giant, but it was only a matter of time.

As he waited for the females to make their next move, his thoughts went back to his battle with the Tekkaman Slade. He snorted at how relatively easy it had been to destroy him. True Slade had dealt him a serious injury, but the crimson Tekkaman had obliterated his only rival with his Anti-Voltekker. There was no way that he could have survived.

In a way, Saber had been sorry to see him destroyed. With him gone, there were no other challenges. Collecting the organs from the other human worlds would be child's play to him. He and Slade had been two of a kind. They had been the only known Tekkamen in the entire universe, the last remaining legacies of the Radam Empire. In some twisted, bizarre way, it was if Saber had met a long-lost brother. However, there could only be ONE true Tekkaman, and only the strongest would survive. That was the law of nature and Saber intended to keep his title.

The red Tekkaman put those thoughts away for another time as he continued to keep vigil for his prey, the Nirvana.

----------

The Nirvana's gym...

**_WHOMP!_**

The Vanguard pilot groaned as her teammates helped her to her feet, after her commander had tossed her. Slade had wasted no time in starting up their training regimens again. They would need to be alert, with minds focused and their reflexes sharp, in what would be their most intense battle to date. 

He had gone especially hard on those who had gotten themselves drunk, during their bouts of despair after his supposed death. It wasn't that he was punishing them, since he couldn't really blame them. He just wanted them to work off the booze in their blood. A good training session to raise their metabolisms and focus their ki would help burn out the alcohol in their systems. He wanted every one of them completely sober as soon as possible. That meant that they would have to sweat out every last drop of sake, wine and beer that they had guzzled.

Xian Pu nodded as she watched the squadron start shaping up. Her superior had begun with relatively simple calisthenics, then gradually upped the ante. It wasn't long before each girl was well on her way to regaining her edge. Toward the middle of the sessions, Slade was moving them near to black belt levels. She then noticed a newcomer entering the gym.

Slade stopped in his training to glance at the person who was standing at the doorway.

"Glad to see that you made it Ukyo. Come on in."

The heir to the Kuonji School of Okonomiyaki Combat nodded as she stepped forward. She was dressed in the traditional wear of her ancestor, which was dark leggings and a low-cut chef/gi combination outfit. Slung over one shoulder was her family's heirloom, which was a huge battle spatula. She also wore a bandolier of smaller throwing spatulas. She was the spitting image of Ukyo the first.

As Slade took in her appearance, he couldn't help but feel how familiar she looked. Though for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why. He began getting images of her as a child, like the one he had seen in those images that the Paksis had shown him.

Putting those thoughts aside, he gestured for Ukyo to face off with him. "Okay Ukyo, let's see what you've got."

----------

Later...

Slade lay on his bed wide awake as the rest of the crew slept. It had been quite a day and tomorrow might well be his last. Then again, having already died once, he wasn't as apprehensive as he should be about facing off against the one who had killed him. At first, he had thought that he had been in a coma, but Duero assured him that he had been definitely deceased, albeit temporarily. 

So now what? He actually traveled to the Great Beyond and back. He had been given a second lease on life, and the question was what he was going to do with it? He wasn't even sure how he had managed to come back. His thoughts drifted back to the time the Paksis had spoken to him and remembered its words.

----------

Flashback...

Paksis: "Slade who is not Slade has already begun his journey..."

End of flashback...

----------

_My journey eh? Who would've thought that stowing away on the Ikazuchi would end up in a journey that included Harvesters, a ship full of women, a mutiny, then dying and coming back? I wasn't even expecting to stay so long in one place._

Slade turned to one side and continued to contemplate.

_Now I wonder what I'm going to do after all of this is over? I suppose I'll just move on as always. The question is... do I want to?_

The thought of eventually leaving the crew of the Nirvana wasn't as appealing as it had been several months ago. There were also those questions and mysteries about his past. He knew that it all had something to do with the Tekkaman Power System and the Paksis Pragma. It seemed that the best way to unravel his own history was to remain on the ship and follow this path to its conclusion. After that... well, he'd think of something.

He mentally nodded to himself that this would be his chosen path as he went to sleep. He would need all of his rest for the approaching conflict.

----------

The day of battle...

After two days of intense preparation, the crew of the Nirvana was as ready as it would ever be. Dread and Vanguard pilots began putting their machines through their final checks. The members of the Register were at their posts and the Engineering sections were set for any and all kinds of situations. In the Sick Bay, Duero and Paiway were all set to treat any injuries that might be incurred from the operation.

On the bridge, there was a tense atmosphere as the countdown had begun. In her command chair, Magno nodded to each of her bridge crew, then to her first officer. Bart was in the navigational well, ready to move the ship at a moment's notice. The sensors had read the gas giant's core reaching the peak of its energy curve, thereby making this time the most ideal for the relatively desperate gambit. The enemy fleet was still holding its position above the planet's ionosphere.

_Now, the stage is set!_ Magno thought. _The players are in place and the stagehands are ready. It's all up to the Dreads, the Vanguards... and D-Boy!_

----------

The hanger...

Slade took a deep breath as he sat in the newly modified Pegas, as it prepared to launch with the other fighters. Parfat had finished with the new weapon system the day before, but she had no chance to test it. In theory, it would give the Slade the edge over Saber and his Anti-Voltekker. It seemed that it would get a trial by fire.

As the countdown was reaching zero, the main monitor of the cockpit lit up and displayed Dita's face.

"Mr. Alien?" The girl was somewhat apprehensive as she spoke. She had been giving Slade some space after he had come back from death, but now felt a great need to speak with him.

"What is it? I thought everything was explained..."

"No, it's not that." The young Dread pilot said. "I just wanted to ask you something else."

"What?"

"I... was wondering..." Dita began twiddling her fingers. "I was just wondering... if you could come to my room after this is all over."

"Uhhhh... can't this wait? We're about to..."

"No! I want you to promise me now!" Dita said more insistently.

Slade let off another sigh, then nodded. "Oh, all right, I suppose I could do that."

This brought a very bright smile to Dita's face. "I'll be waiting for you!" She then cut communications.

Slade shook his head, then remembered something else. He raised Barnette's fighter.

----------

"Barnette here." The brunette said then saw Slade on her monitor. "Oh, what can I do for you Slade?"

"Oh, I just wanted to wish you good luck and to tell you that there aren't any hard feelings." Slade replied.

"Thanks. That's... really nice of you." 

Slade then grinned. "Oh and I expect to see you bright and early tomorrow at 0600 hours in the gym. Don't be late or I'll kick you out of bed and drag you there."

"Huh?" Barnette became confused as Slade signed off, then her monitor showed Xian Pu's smirking expression.

"Congratulations Barnette. You've just been selected to receive Slade's special training regimen."

"Say what?!"

At that moment, Magno signaled for the operation to begin.

----------

In the Earth flagship's main control center, Saber nodded as the sensors picked up several fighters heading toward his fleet's position.

_So... they've finally decided to go out fighting, eh? I suppose that is better than just waiting for them to die. Though this **STILL** won't be much of a challenge._

He watched as several groups of Vanguards emerged from the clouds, along with one Dread. He recognized it as the fighter that formed the red, transformer Tekkadread. He was a bit puzzled that the other two Paksis-powered fighters had not emerged, nor did he see the remaining Dreads. Then he caught sight of a new object emerging from the electromagnetic storms. His eyes widened as an emerald-green light shot out from within it.

_No! It can't be! I **DESTROYED HIM**!_

----------

"TEKSETTER!"

Tekkaman Slade landed on Pegas' back and sped toward the enemy fleet with the Vanguards and Jura's Dread close behind. The Harvester flagship immediately reacted by launching multitudes of Cube Fighters, Seed Ships and Space Urchins. Space soon became lit with lasers, energized projectiles, explosions and missile trails. The Warrior Squadron spilt apart and began returning fire, using electron-pulse rifles and the new missile pods that Parfat's engineering crew had installed. They used their martial arts training and the bladed melee weapons at their disposal, whenever the enemy got too close. Jura's Dread provided long-range cover.

Slade and Meia's assessment had been correct. With the gas giant behind them and the Harvesters in front and on both sides of them, the overall battle area was limited, and the humanoid mecha were more suited for this kind of combat. However, that didn't mean that the Dreads didn't play pivotal role in the plan.

----------

Deep within the gas giant, three Dreads and the Nirvana neared the core of the unstable planet. Taking up positions around the core, Dita, Barnette and Meia began using their energy weapons to add more energy to it. Slowly but surely the center of the planet began to heat up.

----------

Slade looked about as he reduced several dozen Cube Fighters into recyclable scrap. The minor enemies were providing him with a bit of a warm-up before the main event...

"SLADE!"

The white Tekkaman looked up and saw his red counterpart diving toward him. Leaping off Pegas he charged toward his adversary and the rematch began.

----------

On the Nirvana's bridge...

"Sensors have confirmed that Tekkaman Slade has begun engaging Tekkaman Saber." Celtic announced.

Magno nodded as she watched the energy readouts of the planet's core continue to climb.

----------

"Look at that!" One of the Vanguard pilots said as the battle raged between the two cosmic warriors.

"Keep your mind focused on the mission!" Xian Pu scolded. "We have to draw the enemy closer to the planet, so they'll be destroyed when the solar flares start up! Slade will take care of Saber!" _I hope that new weapon Parfat made will work. I don't think we could stand to lose him again._

----------

"I had thought I had destroyed you!" Saber said as he and his opponent exchanged several dozen swipes, slashes and parries with their lances. "How did you survive?"

"That's my little secret!" Slade retorted, though in actuality he wasn't certain.

"No matter! I defeated you before and I shall do so again!" The crimson Tekkaman tried a savage stab to Slade's face, but his foe turned his head to one side, narrowly evading the attack.

"Think again!" Slade retaliated with a spin kick, catching Saber in the side and knocking him back. "I wasn't feeling that great when we first met, but now I'm at the top of my game!"

Saber growled as he noticed that his adversary was indeed faster than he had been before. He let of a snarl and charged him again. He tried a ferocious assault with his lance, starting with a series of staccato stabs, followed by several slashes to the midsection. However, Slade dodged the first part of the attack, then parried the second half, knocking Saber's weapon out of his hands. The red Tekkaman kicked away Slade's lance and the two went at it hand to hand. Dozens of punches and kicks were exchanged in less than an eye blink. Soon the two had their hands locked with each other and their thrusters going at full throttle. Both were straining to the limit of his endurance.

"You can't beat me! I KNOW ALL OF YOUR MOVES!" Saber declared.

"You don't know SQUAT!" Slade replied as he suddenly cut his thrusters and pulled on his arms. 

The sudden change in momentum, along with his thrusters going at full, caused Saber to shoot unexpectedly over his antagonist. Slade took advantage of this momentary upset to charge in with thrusters at maximum throttle, and land a hard punch to the crimson Tekkaman's head. This caused Saber to slam into several of his fleet's own Cube Fighters, destroying them in the process.

Slade's counterpart let of an enraged roar as he flew out of the remains of the fighters and charged his opponent again.

----------

The Nirvana's bridge...

"Planet core will reach critical mass in twelve minutes." Ezra proclaimed.

"Hurry up, D-Boy." Magno said softly.

----------

"Is that ALL you've got?" Slade taunted.

"Hardly!" Saber gritted as the each Tekkaman retrieved his weapon before going at it again.

They made several passes at each other, slashing and thrusting like crazy. Then Saber flew near a Cube Fighter and stabbed it through its midsection. Swinging it about, he launched the impromptu missile at his foe, hoping to distract him.

Slade made a downward swing with his weapon, slicing the fighter in half. At that moment, Saber came in with the point of his lance directed at Slade's heart. However, this time the former Saotome was faster and turned to evade the attack. As a result, the point missed his chest almost entirely and just grazed the left side of his torso.

The white Tekkaman winced a bit at the pain, but then swung his left leg about and caught his opponent in the head again. He followed through with a stab, which managed to puncture Saber's left shoulder.

The crimson warrior let off a howl of pain as he backed off before attacking again. Things were starting to get more intense.

----------

"We can't hold them off much longer, Xian!" One of the Vanguard pilots said as the Warrior Squadron were being pushed back toward the gas giant. Their rifles were almost depleted of their charges and they had long since exhausted their payloads of missiles. Now the enemy flagship had begun firing at them. Most of the girls under Slade's command were now reduced to hand-to-hand combat. Thankfully, the training they had received from the Nirvana's Tekkaman had let them fight on against the smaller enemies.

The Amazon nodded as she raised the Nirvana. "Captain, we're running out of time! How much longer before we can pull back?"

----------

The Nirvana's bridge...

"Estimated time to core chain-reaction now at seven minutes and fifty-three seconds." Ezra said.

Buzom raised Slade on communications. "Slade, we need your help to buy us some more time! You've got to finish off Saber NOW!"

----------

Slade acknowledged the message as he and his adversary continued to fight. As he parried Saber's latest attack, he signaled toward Pegas. The Tekkabot had been assisting the Warrior Squadron against the Harvester fighters. Now it broke off from the Vanguards and made a beeline toward its master.

Slade countered another series of Saber's attacks, then split his lance in half. Now armed with twin short swords, he began using one blade to parry the red Tekkaman's weapon, while delivering a ferocious array of cutting and stabbing motions. Three gashes appeared on Saber's midsection, just as Pegas arrived on the scene.

Saber roared in outrage as his opponent suddenly broke off his engagement, by kicking him in the gut, and then hopping onto the Tekkabot as it sped by.

"YOU COWARD! COME BACK AND FACE ME!"

Slade smirked behind his helmet as he gave him a very insulting gesture with a finger. He had to get Saber mad enough, so he'd be committed to one final attack. The Tekkabot made a tight U-turn and rammed hard into his foe. This caused the scarlet Tekkaman to go tumbling away.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" Saber roared as his thrusters righted himself.

"SEND ME AN IOU!" Slade shot back as Pegas made another U-turn and then let loose with its lasers and cannons, showering the servant of the Harvesters with beams and shells. They were more of an annoyance than damaging, but they distracted him long enough for Slade to launch an energy cable at his target. The line wrapped around one of Saber's leg and that was when his opponent yanked hard and instructed Pegas to go full throttle into a swarm of enemy fighters.

Saber was dragged through the formations of Cube Fighters, smashing them to bits as he collided with them. Then the white Tekkaman added the final insult. He swung Saber around by the cable and slammed him into a Seed Ship, causing a massive explosion. As the Seed Ship went up in a ball of destruction, Slade raced away and prepared for Saber's retaliation.

"PEGAS! ACTIVATE ENERGY AMPLIFIERS! PREPARE TO FIRE!"

"Affirmative."

The arms of the Tekkabot repositioned themselves in front of Slade as power transfusion devices appeared. At the same time, handle grips appeared for Slade to grab hold of as his Voltekker units flipped up and began generating power.

----------

The engineering section of the Nirvana...

Parfat nodded as she and her staff watched the battle between the two Tekkamen on their monitor. The head engineer began explaining as the Tekkabot began its transformation.

"The new beam weapon will collect Slade's energy and add its own to it. The combined energies will be refocused into a more powerful beam! I call it... the Super-Voltekker!"

----------

Saber shot out of the debris of the Seed Ship and was seeing red. He caught sight of his antagonist charging at him on his Tekkabot. Well that suited Saber just fine. Let's see Slade withstand this!

"NOW YOU DIE! ANTI-VOLTEKKER!"

The gemstones on his torso glowed and let loose with murderous scarlet beams. Like snakes composed of light, they curved their way toward Slade, intent on annihilating him from the universe. However, that was when Slade gave his adversary the shock of his life.

"SUPER... VOLTEKKER!"

Pegas let loose with a massive power blast a hundred times more intense than his regular Voltekker. Anything that was caught in the beam's path was obliterated. Seed ships, Space Urchins and Cube Fighters were atomized in less than a nanosecond. The Anti-Voltekker beams were neutralized as soon as they made contact with it and Saber found that he was directly in the line of fire.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

The red Tekkaman tried to get away, but was engulfed in the beam as it continued on through the enemy fleet. More ships were reduced to their component molecules before the Super Voltekker hit the bow of the enemy flagship and blasted a huge hole in it. The entire craft shuddered violently, but remained relatively intact as its remaining fighters and escort ships concentrated on destroying the Nirvana's fighters. 

----------

On the Nirvana were deafening cheers and whoops of joy.

"YES! GOOD-BYE SABER!"

"HE DID IT!"

"HE WON!"

"HE BEAT HIM!"

On the bridge Magno and BC smiled.

"Well done, D-Boy." The ancient woman said softly.

As the cheering died down, Ezra announced that the core would reach critical mass in five minutes and twenty seconds.

----------

"Slade, we could use a little help here!"

Slade acknowledged Jura's plea and sped toward her Dread fighter. Near the blonde pilot was the Warrior Squadron, who had been forced back almost to the edge of the planet's outer atmosphere. When he got in close enough, he jumped off Pegas and initiated the fusion process. Tekkadread Jura in its crab form put up its barrier, and shielded the Nivana's Vanguards from the assault of the enemy ships.

Inside the cockpit, Jura leaned over and planted a wet kiss on Slade's cheek.

"You were absolutely magnificent! Truly elegant!" She was about shower more praise on him, but then noticed that he didn't look so good. "Is... something the matter?"

Slade was panting a bit, and had a tired look about him as he replied. "It's... okay. I... think I overdid it a little with the Super-Voltekker. I'll be fine. Now let's maintain the shield until the Meia, Dita and Barnette are finished."

Jura nodded as she and Slade worked the controls of her Tekkadread. Outside the barrier, the enemy continued to mercilessly bombard them. 

----------

The Nirvana's bridge...

"Estimated time for planet core chain-reaction now at four minutes and ten seconds." Ezra said.

"Tekkadread Jura is sustaining heavy damage." Celtic announced.

_Hold on Slade... you too, Jura._ Buzom thought.

----------

The planet's core...

"We're getting there! Keep on feeding it power!" Meia commanded.

"We can this! Mr. Alien beat the bad alien so it's no problem any more!"

"Don't get cocky and focus on your job!" Meia warned.

Dita gulped at her leader's stern expression, but then Barnette smiling face appeared on her other monitor.

"Dita... just do your best, okay?"

Dita brightened up and nodded. "Right!"

----------

"We can't hold up much longer!" Jura cried out as she saw that the barrier was weakening from the enemy's relentless pounding.

Slade winced as he tried to maintain the shield, but his battle with Saber had taken too much of his energy. When he looked at the holographic monitor, his confidence fell even lower. 

"Damn! More trouble!"

The remaining two Tekkadreads were approaching their position. Apparently, they had been held in reserve. Now they were bearing down on them, and the Tekkaman doubted that Jura's Tekkadread shield could hold up against their power and the remaining enemy fleet. He decided that the Vanguards had done all that they could do, and raised the Warrior Squadron's second-in-command.

"Xian Pu! You and the others get back to the Nirvana!"

The Amazon shook her head. "No! We can't leave you and Jura alone to face those things!"

"THAT'S AN ORDER! DO AS I SAY!"

Xian Pu was about to protest further, but Slade opened up a section of the barrier that was nearest to the planet. The planet's gravity took hold of the Vanguards and pulled them into its atmosphere. With no weapons and everyone low on power, the Warrior Squadron pilots had no choice but to erect the shields of their Van-Types and return to the pirate vessel, leaving Jura and Slade to face off against the enemy.

----------

Jura shivered, as the barrier was about to give way under the murderous barrage of the two Tekkadread clones and the other ships. In seconds, they would be completely defenseless against them.

"It can't end this way! We're so close!" Jura cried as the last vestiges of their protection was about to fail.

"Damn! We can beat these fakes!" Slade gritted. "We just need more POWER!"

----------

In front of the Tekkadread, the Tekkabot acknowledged Slade's desire.

"Affirmative!"

It then sped toward the Tekkadread. A section in the bottom of the larger machine opened up. The Tekkabot entered the slot and triggered certain mechanisms.

----------

"What's happening?" Jura exclaimed as her seat suddenly began moving to a new position. Slade's chair also began moving as the insides of the cockpit underwent a new configuration.

----------

Tekkadread Jura immediately went into its second form, which was the tiger. However, the feline mecha then stood on its hind legs, while its front forelegs reconverted themselves and the paws became clawed hands. The knee joints of the hind limbs reversed themselves and formed humanoid legs. The entire Tekkadread became more armored as the jaws of the cat opened to reveal a face. The new machine now looked like some fierce cat warrior, complete with a cat's head cowl and tail. Tekkadread Jura had just become Tekkadread Jura X!

----------

"THIS IS SOOOOO AWESOME!" Jura said with glee as she was now sitting back-to-back with Slade. Both were now wearing technological visors, which were connected to the backs of their chairs and fed into a kind of virtual reality system. Each of their hands were on cybernetic control pads.

Slade was a bit put off at the Tekkadread's newest appearance, but at least it looked better than the tiger. He nodded to his partner and powered up the machine with his ki.

----------

Everyone on the Nirvana was now in a state of shock at what had just happened. The warrior Squadron, who had just entered the main hanger, all became jealous of Jura's latest Tekkadread form.

In the engineering section, all eyes were on Parfat, who was vigorously shaking her head.

"I DIDN'T KNOW IT COULD DO THAT!"

----------

The planet's core...

"WOW!" Dita exclaimed.

"Keep focused on the mission!" Meia reminded, though she too was feeling a bit awestruck.

Barnette shook her head. After today, Jura wasn't going to stop talking about her new 'elegance.'

----------

The enemy Tekkadreads took one long look at the newcomer, then opened fire. However, the new machine was just as agile if not more so than its pure feline form. As it deftly evaded each shot, its left arm began projecting a circular shield of energy, which started absorbing the blasts from the smaller Harvester ships. When it had taken in as much power as it could, the Tekkadread Jura X directed its shield at its doppelganger and let loose all of that collected power in a blast of destruction. The Copy Tekkadread Jura put up its own barrier, but it wasn't enough to protect it against the amplified feedback beam. The clone's barrier failed and the copy exploded, scattering its remains into space.

----------

"T-minus two minutes and counting..." Ezra announced.

However, it seemed that the bridge crew wasn't paying attention as their gazes were still fixed on what was occurring outside of the planet's atmosphere.

----------

The Copy Tekkdread Dita tried to aim its weapons at its opponent. However, Tekkadread Jura X had all the advantages of speed, agility, Slade's martial arts prowess, and one other thing that he had retained during his previous life as Ranma Saotome... though it was deeply buried in his suppressed memory. The claws of the machine began slashing away, ripping parts off the Tekkadread copy like a cat shredding a newspaper. Finally, the claws took an eerie light as it took a stance and prepared to strike.

Slade growled as he focused his power and...

"CAT... FIST... VOLTEKKER!"

A double-cross slash with both arms cut the enemy Tekkadread into quarters, which exploded and left nothing but the victorious fusion of Tekkaman, Vanguard and Dread.

At that moment, the gas giant rumbled as the chain-reaction had begun.

----------

"They did it!" Celtic declared as the energy readings of the planet's core went off the scale.

Magno began barking out commands. "Barnette! Get back to the Nirvana now! Meia, Dita, execute phase three of the operation! Bart! Get us out of here!"

"ROGER!" Everyone said, as the pirate vessel began moving away from the core.

----------

Slade nodded as he saw Meia and Dita's Dreads take up position near where Tekkadread Jura X was. He addressed the blonde pilot.

"It's time for us to separate."

"Aw, do we HAVE to?" Jura pouted.

----------

The enhanced Tekkadread glowed with a bright flare of light, then split apart into Jura's Dread and Slade riding Pegas again. Jura flew off to rendezvous with the Nirvana while Slade sped off to meet up with Meia. In an instant, the two combined to form the Dread leader's Dragon mecha, which used its claws to latch onto Dita's fighter and carry it out at top speed. Behind its wake was a huge solar flare from the newly formed star that had been the gas giant. Slade and Meia had planned to use to power of the solar prominence to wipe out the enemy battleship. By manipulating the energy output of the chain-reaction, they were able to direct one of the energy surges toward their target.

----------

"We're heading toward an asteroid field!" A bridge operator declared as the Nirvana sped through space with the Harvester ship in hot pursuit. Behind them, the star continued to spew out solar flares in all directions, including theirs! Much of the enemy fleet was incinerated and the flames were singing the ship's stern, putting Bart in the proverbial hot seat.

"YOW! HOT! HOT! HOT!"

Buzom immediately took up position in one of the navigational stations and orders all maneuvering thrusters to be switched to manual. She then began guiding the ship in relation to Bart's movements. With a little luck and some skilled flying, the pirate ship managed to avoid colliding with the oncoming chunks of rock and ice, as well as escape the solar flare.

----------

"Slade! What's wrong! We're slowing down!" 

Meia became concerned as Slade fell a bit forward and trembled. His breathing had become somewhat irregular, and his skin had turned slightly pale.

"I'm... getting... tired..."

The aqua-haired girl realized that he was feeling the strain of having to fuse more than once and the battle with Saber had taken its toll. They had not figured on fatigue in their calculations. However, they were already committed in the attack run with the enemy flagship and there was no turning back. The solar flare behind them loomed ever closer, threatening to overtake them. Then Slade cried out.

"PEGAS... COMBINE!"

----------

The Tekkabot acknowledged its master's command and sped on an intercept course. Just as the Tekkadread was about to get fried, a section in the rear opened up and the Vanguard interlocked with it. The fusion caused a new transformation to take place as the wings took on a more feathery appearance and glowed with green flames. The talons which held Dita's dread became more curved, while the head took on a more avian appearance, complete with a crest and beak. The rear sprouted tail-like structures, which added to the machine's overall thrust. The new Tekkadread, now shaped like phoenix, suddenly burst forward in a fiery aura and pulled ahead of the solar flare. 

"WOW! WOW! WOW!" Dita exclaimed as she looked up at Tekkadread Meia X from her cockpit. She then looked forward and saw that a few enemy ships were heading toward them to protect the flagship. However, Slade refocused his dwindling ki and quantum energy stores as the beak of the Tekkadread opened up.

"PHOENIX FLARE... VOLTEKKER!"

A gigantic fireball of quantum energy was launched, which obliterated the last of the enemy fighters and Seed ships. All that was left was the Earth battleship.

----------

"Dita... prepare for... stage four..."  
Slade felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder inside the enhanced cockpit of Tekkadread Meia X. He looked back and saw the Dread Leader giving him a small smile.

"Slade... be careful, and don't die on us!"

The Tekkaman gave her a smile back and said, "Been there, done that, moved on." 

At that moment, Tekkadread Meia X spilt apart and Slade joined up with Dita's Dread, forming her Tekkadread. Slade was near unconsciousness and hoped that this would be ended with this next maneuver. As the solar flare raced toward them, the twin blade cannons detached from the Tekkadread's back and joined together to form a giant version of the Tekkaman's lance. 

Using the power of the solar flare to propel the weapon, they ducked underneath the oncoming energy blast and let the double-bladed javelin fly. The projectile rocketed forward and slammed into the bow of the Earth mothership, piercing it through and through. The energy of the solar flare flowed into the ship and wreaked total havoc with its insides. Suddenly, the entire vessel was enveloped in one massive explosion.

----------

The crew of the Nirvana cheered as they watched what appeared to be the final end of the enemy. On the bridge, Magno and Buzom both agreed that it had been a job well done. However, the cheering suddenly stopped when something huge emerged from the center of the explosion.

"No, it can't be!"

"Those Earth forces are really tenacious." Magno remarked as she felt her blood run cold.

----------

"I can't believe this!" Slade growled as he saw that the enemy mothership had still survived that supposedly crippling blow. Behind them, another solar flare was racing up behind them. Pegas began heading toward them as well.

----------

"Dita! Slade, get out of there!" Magno cried out, but it was too late. The energy wave completely engulfed the Tekkadread and Tekkabot, causing it to disappear from the screens of the bridge.

In the navigational well, Bart moaned in despair.

"Stupid. None of this will mean anything if you die again." 

However, the communicators began receiving a message in static.

"(Squark) Been there, done that! (Bzzt)"

-----------

For the umpteenth time today, the crew was in shock as something burst out from the conflagration and streaked toward the damaged mothership. It looked like a giant armored knight with eight feathery wings, sword blades attached to each forearm and was colored a brilliant crystal blue. It was Tekkadread Dita X! Apparently, Pegas had managed to link up in that prominence.

Inside the cockpit, Slade and Dita were still sitting in their usual positions, but the consoles seemed to be made out of crystal. The Tekkaman gave his partner a smile, then cried out.

"TIME TO FINISH THIS!"

Dita nodded as they sped toward their target.

"I'll never gave up, because we made a promise!"

Slade's aura flared as he prepared to deliver the final attack. The Tekkadread folded up into a fetal position, with blades crossed in front of it and wings curled around it.

"WING-BLADE... VOLTEKKER!"

As the swords were thrust out in wide arcs, the wings spread out and released crescent arcs of power. The swords fired off a beam of power, which was enhanced by the blasts of the wings. The result was a blast that even the damaged enemy ship couldn't take. The attack engulfed the craft and finally, it was erased from existence in one massive eruption of power.

Inside the cockpit, Slade finally gave in to exhaustion.

"I'm... done."

He then fainted.

----------

Slade woke up inside Pegas' cockpit and wondered how he got there. The sensors told him that he was in the hanger and he decided to get out. However, as soon as he opened the cockpit, he was greeted by Dita and Jura...

"WELCOME BACK!" Both girls said.

"Huh?"

Behind them, was a crowd of girl who also chorused, "WELCOME BACK!"

Slade fell forward, only to be swept up in Jura's arms as she vigorously kissed him on the cheek.

"YOU WERE INCREDIBLE! I SIMPLY CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU SAVED US ALL!"

Slade was immediately pulled out of Jura's arms by Dita. "Hey! Keep your hands off Mr. Alien!"

This made Jura very irritated. "I was just thanking him for saving us all!"

At that point, Xian Pu began making her way toward them. "I want to thank the commander too!"

"Not before I do!" Ukyo said.

Dita shook her head while tightening her grip on Slade. "NO! MR. ALIEN HAS A PROMISE THAT HE HAS TO KEEP TO ME!"

"WHAT PROMISE?!" Jura, Ukyo and Xian Pu demanded.

At that moment, Pyoro began screaming out warnings. "IT'S NOT OVER YET!"

Slade pried himself from Dita's grip and asked, "What are you talking about?"

The little robot began displaying some images on his monitor. "I've just received some enemy transmissions! Earth has learned that we've destroyed one of their main ships and now they're sending the others to Mejele and Tarak!"

Jura gulped as she saw the display. "MY GOD! There's five more?"

This made the entire crew apprehensive. They had barely been able to defeat one ship. How were they going to deal with five?

Slade snorted, which caught everyone's attention. "What's with the long faces and gloom? So we've got to beat five more ships, big deal! We all knew that this wasn't going to be an easy trip. So why bother worrying about it? We've already chosen our path and we've taken the first few steps. So we might as well go the distance, right?" He smirked toward Dita.

The red-haired girl smiled and nodded. "Right!"

----------

"So we might as well go the distance, eh?" Magno chuckled as she spoke with her first mate. "Just when I thought that D-Boy couldn't surprise me any more."

BC nodded as she commanded the bridge crew to set a course for home. 

----------

As the Nirvana sped off into hyperspace, a certain someone arose from the remnants of the mothership. The figure was battered, torn and almost dead, but his hatred for Slade had allowed him to survive. He was too weak to go after the Nirvana and could only send out a retrieval signal for his masters to come pick him up, if they hadn't already abandoned him for failing in his mission. Whatever the case may be, Saber knew that he and Slade would once again meet.

"This... isn't... over... Slade!"

END OF STAGE ONE!

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Whoa! Was that EVER a long one! In any case, yes you read that last part right. This was only Stage One. Tekkadread the Second Stage is already in the works and I hope to have the first chapter finished by next month or so. As of now, this is the FOURTH story I've completed and I couldn't stop writing until I was done! In the second part, I'm going to get more into Ranma/Slade's past as he encounters new friends, new enemies and new adventures. Until then!

(1) For those of you who think that Dita is nothing but an airhead, I feel that she's just as deserving to end up with Slade as anyone else. After rewatching the fourth DVD of Vandread, I became inspired by the speech she had given to get the crew's spirit back up. Therefore, I decided to write her in the same way. 


End file.
